Parish and community engagement.

I've been thinking about that term in our new name, engagement. Well, to be more honest, I've been thinking about my car. You see, I drive an old jalopy, a 1995 Toyota Corolla which has a stick shift. And if there's one thing everybody remembers about the stick shift its that everything depends on your ability to get the clutch engaged. Just press down on the gas pedal while at the same time slowly releasing the other pedal, and away you go, they say. Not so easy, as I remember. Memories still haunt me of the days and weeks I spent lurching unevenly around corners and stalling ignominiously in front of traffic as I tried to engage the clutch.

Funny how nothing actually happens until that engagement takes place. How true that is! Engagement is quite simply the transition from intention to movement. Until we lift the toes from the pedal, in just the right balance, we don't actually have movement. We just have intention.

So, I'm hoping that our office of Parish and Community Engagement can help transition people from intention to movement. If you have often meant to get involved by helping a refugee family make Arizona their home, but never gotten around to it, we can help. If you've wondered what you could do to support young teenage pregnant moms in a group home but never acted on it, we will connect you. If you wanted to join the Peace Corps but couldn't, we can show you how to sign up for our Catholic Charities HOPE Corps!