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Large Parish Feels Smaller Now
By Clare Roach, Parishioner
Before moving to Granger and joining the Saint Pius X community, my husband and I had always belonged to small parishes. I grew up in a small, multi-ethnic parish in the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. in which it seemed my family knew the majority of other families at any given Mass regardless of whether the Mass was said in English, Spanish or Tagalog. And since getting married, Brandon and I always managed to end up in parishes affiliated with universities, sometimes because we were students and sometimes because we just lived close by.
As one might imagine, our first experience at Saint Pius was a bit daunting. We sat, nestled into one of the back rows, with our young children wiggling in our laps. The liturgy, with its stirring music, was beautiful. The humorous, silver-haired pastor was engaging and warm. But, as I looked around at the congregation, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by its enormity. Except for a neighbor several rows ahead, I saw a vast sea of strangers. I was thoroughly intimidated.
The sheer size of the parish was enough to lead me to become a “pew warmer” for the first year or two after joining. But, I don't consider myself a pew warmer anymore. It wasn't a single experience that began the transformation. Rather, it was a slow process of reaching out and beginning to answer the parish’s call to embrace stewardship and build community.
The first step took the form of answering an Elizabeth Ministry advertisement in the bulletin. Getting to know other moms who, like me, struggled with postpartum depression after the birth of a child was a godsend. All of the sudden, the parish started to feel a little smaller. Then, as my toddlers grew into preschoolers, I discovered Saint Pius’ Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Program and the inviting and faith-filled women who help it to thrive. Saint Pius was starting to feel like my parish home - a place where I felt known and where my family was nourished. And, because Saint Pius started to feel like home, I was all the more willing to help it flourish. Now on any given Sunday you’ll still find me in a pew with a child wiggling in my lap, but you might also find me lectoring or teaching CCD. This year I am the lead catechist of an 8th grade class.
There were also other things our family did, sometimes unwittingly, to help make Saint Pius feel a bit more intimate. We started going regularly to the same Mass and sitting in the same section of the church. There are families we’ve come to know because we all sit near each other each week. And, we try to make it a point to say hello to someone around us before leaving Mass.
Looking back, every time I reached out to serve the parish, it helped me to feel stronger sense of community. It isn’t always easy being part of a large, bustling parish. But, there are a lot of benefits too. There’s a little something for all of us, if we’re open to it. Now I look at the vast sea of people on Sunday and I find it far more comforting than intimidating. We’re not strangers. We live our faith communally. We’re a family, albeit a big one, and what isn’t Catholic about that?
