{"id":37845,"date":"2017-09-15T15:44:35","date_gmt":"2017-09-15T20:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=37845"},"modified":"2017-09-17T19:20:47","modified_gmt":"2017-09-18T00:20:47","slug":"rebuilt-homily-for-dedication-of-church-lays-out-vision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2017\/09\/15\/rebuilt-homily-for-dedication-of-church-lays-out-vision\/","title":{"rendered":"Rebuilt: Fr. White Lays Out Vision in Dedication Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s note: The Church of the Nativitiy<\/a> in Timonium, Maryland is famous as the home of the Rebuilt<\/a> movement, about which there is a lively discussion (and a bit of friendly disagreement too). <\/em>Pray Tell reported on worship at this parish (in the former worship space) here<\/a>. <\/em>The parish recently moved into its new worship space. With kind permission of the pastor, Fr. Michael White, <\/em>Pray Tell\u00a0is\u00a0reprinting an excerpt from his homily (they call it the “message”) for the occasion. The following excerpt will be of interest to <\/em>Pray Tell readers, for it speaks of the vision of the parish and its worship style. And Rick Warren has a message from God\u00a0<\/em>for Fr. White<\/em>\u00a0: this\u00a0<\/em>Catholic “rebuilt” parish is part of a movement that will save this country!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>[T]here are lots of people, especially out here in North Baltimore, who say they love the Church.<\/em> But, they don\u2019t belong to a parish<\/em>. They don\u2019t commit to any specific place to serve and grow. To really love the Church, you\u2019ve got to love a very specific parish.<\/p>\n

GK Chesterton once famously wrote:<\/p>\n

Rome was not loved because it was great.\u00a0<\/em>It was great because it was loved.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We open this Church this week because we are a community of people who have committed to love this<\/em> parish. Our story reaches back at least a dozen years, when we decided to set out in a deliberately different<\/em> direction.<\/p>\n

We believed the last thing Baltimore needed was another<\/em> church. But, we became convinced what Baltimore definitely needed a different kind of Catholic parish. We believed it needed to look <\/em>different and act <\/em>differently so that we could attract different people. People who don\u2019t like church.<\/p>\n

We decided to be a church people who don\u2019t like church like.\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

That became our vision to serve our mission.<\/em>While the mission<\/em> of the Church never changes, \u201cLove God, love others, make disciples,\u201d the methods, the strategies that serve the mission <\/em>must.<\/p>\n

We need to be unerringly faithful to our Catholic faith and the Tradition of our Church.<\/p>\n

Not nostalgia for a romanticized past that clings to that which is merely antique.<\/p>\n

The problem with some traditional Catholics isn\u2019t that they want to return to the past, it\u2019s that they\u2019re not willing to go back far enough. They want to return to the 1950\u2019s, or the 1850\u2019s.What we need is a return to the Church Paul was writing to A retrieval and revival of the spirit and soul of the church of the Apostles when the Church was most faithful and <\/em>most fruitful. (Those two things always go together, by the way).<\/p>\n

We came to call this approach \u201cdynamic orthodoxy.\u201d<\/p>\n

We challenged people in the pews to get up out of the pews, to take responsibility for growing <\/em>in their faith and sharing <\/em>it, especially among the unchurched in North Baltimore. We came to call the quintessential unchurched person in north Baltimore \u201cTimonium Tim.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, we began evaluating all our programs and services with Tim in mind. We tried to recognize him and understand him, to speak to him and be relevant to him; we learned to love him.<\/p>\n

As we set out to change there was conflict and criticism, and plenty of it (and it keeps on coming). Elsewhere we have been derided and defamed, or merely dismissed.<\/p>\n

\"\"But, we loved our church and the vision God gave us. We remained faithful to that vision, and that faithfulness <\/em>was fruitful. <\/em>We are here this today because we have been fruitful.<\/p>\n

This is fruit of love. You have loved this church. And you have not loved in some vague, emotional way that accomplishes nothing. You have loved in a way that has been entirely specific and indispensably helpful. You have loved one another through small groups. You have loved through ministry and missions.<\/p>\n

You have shown love through your giving, especially in the last few years to our amazing Vision Campaign. The story of the Vision Campaign involved the support of thousands of ordinary people just like you.<\/p>\n