On the Paulist Focus from Fr. Dave O'Brien

Fr. Dave O’Brien, St. Austin pastor 1984-1990, attended the General Assembly of the Paulist Community in New Jersey in 1986. The Paulists had adopted three central goals at that Assembly and Fr. O’Brien wanted to share them with St. Austin parishioners and, so he wrote, “we hope to involve the lay people among whom we work in the goals of our community.”

The three central goals adopted for the Paulist contemporary mission were: Evangelization, Reconciliation and Ecumenism. Here is how Fr. O’Brien described them.

Evangelization, the preaching of the Gospel to those who have not heard it, invites all people to hear the Word of God and share in our Church life together.

Reconciliation, the work of Christian healing and compassion, calls us to reach out to our Catholic brothers and sisters, alienated from the Church community, and calls us to respond to the wounds of society and the hunger for peace and justice.

Ecumenism, the search for the unity God wills for the Church, opens us to the spiritual riches and Gospel traditions of other Christian churches and urges us to work with one another for unity in life and mission. The Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle continues to affirm these three central goals today.