This blog is an article for the Together Paper of Wagga Wagga Diocese October Edition.
There is something genuinely honest about standing before a room full of people and
sharing a project that is still in its infancy, complete with uncertainties, revisions and
unfinished details. Yet this is precisely what one of our inaugural Grace & Virtue Formation
Program participants demonstrated at our recent Grace & Virtue Dinner.
Sincerity is the quality of being genuine and free from pretence. It requires honesty not only
in how we present ourselves to others, but also in how we understand ourselves, our gifts
and what we have to offer.
From the beginning, participants in the Formation Program were invited to come with an
openness to receive and a willingness to be transformed. More than growing in knowledge of
the faith, the program sought to help participants grow in living out their faith, which naturally
leads to the Great Commission to ‘go and make disciples’.
This required courage and honesty, beginning with an examination of their identity as
children of God. Establishing this secure foundation is essential if we are to recognise and
use well the gifts He has entrusted to us. After all, it is difficult to receive and use what our
Father gives us when we do not first deeply know who we are in relation to Him.
Yet it is very easy to overlook this foundational work and rush straight into the doing.
We can become so focused on what needs to be done in our parishes that we forget to
consider who is being asked to do it, whether it aligns with their gifts, and whether it is
appropriate for their season of life. Simply introducing something because another parish
has it or filling a committee vacancy because there is an empty seat, does not necessarily
bear good fruit.
The wrong person in a particular role, the right person taking on too much in the wrong
season, or not taking on anything at all, or someone assuming leadership is more valuable
than supporting another’s vision can all contribute to resentment, impatience and
discouragement. What begins as a generous desire to serve can end up affecting not only
the individual, but the flourishing of the wider parish community.
This is why participants are supported to discover their charisms, discern how they might be
used, and develop a parish project that places their gifts at the service of their community,
while retaining the freedom to give.
At our recent dinner, Siena Evans shared the journey of developing her parish project,
bringing together her God-given gifts and talents with the vision of her parish priest.
Siena spoke openly about the multiple drafts and revisions that eventually led to the
development of a Catholic Mail Club. The project seeks to reach those on the fringes of
parish life, particularly those who are housebound, isolated or unable to participate in their
parish community, reminding them through beauty and personal connection that they are not
forgotten.
What struck me was the sincerity with which Siena approached its development and shared
its unfinished beginnings.
It would have been easy to assume that because her parish priest had a vision for outreach,
she needed to be the person knocking on doors or organising others to do so. Instead, Siena was willing to be challenged, reconsider her ideas and trust that the charisms God had
given her were intended for the service of His Church at this time.
Rather than anxiously trying to become the person she thought the parish needed, she
found a way to contribute meaningfully to its mission by embracing the security of who God
had already created her to be.
This is sincerity in action. Being willing to act from the truth of who we are, without
pretence or the need to imitate someone else’s contribution. There is freedom in recognising
that the value of our contribution does not depend on its visibility or similarity to what others
are doing.
Perhaps the invitation for each of us is to consider whether we are offering what is genuinely
ours to give or trying to fulfil an expectation of what contribution ought to look like for it to
have value and meaning.
Congratulations to all the participants of our inaugural Grace & Virtue Formation Program!
Expressions of interest are now open for the 2027 program, welcoming adults across the
Wagga Wagga Diocese and designed to be completed alongside full-time work or study
commitments.
To register your interest or receive updates about Siena’s Catholic Mail Club, email
Contact@VirtueMinistry.org.au.
Written by Stina Constantine
Founder of Virtue Ministry and keynote speaker