Foundational Principles for Pastoral Planning

Christians believe that the universe is created and constantly transformed towards its good end by a loving God who desires that all become one in intimate, divine union. In particular, the Catholic faith tradition highlights a God who labors actively in the world for its fullness of life. People who do not profess any formal religious faith might also hold a parallel belief or arrive at a similar insight. For instance, they might have conceived of or sense an omnipresent, positive lifeforce in the universe especially when they contemplate the beauty of nature, the goodness of certain people, or the rejuvenation of the world despite suffering and pain. Even more so, they might have had a personal encounter with this healing and transformative lifeforce.

Catholics believe that humankind has been imbued with a fundamental orientation towards such perfect oneness with God, and this manifests itself in humans’ seemingly insatiable thirst for fulfillment, love, truth, and ultimately for God. It also manifests itself in humans’ ability to recognize genuine love, goodness, and truth when search deeply and authentically with their heart. Our purest and deepest desires bring us home to ourselves, to one another, and ultimately to God.

Such unity is not an inactive one but a participative one. It animates and is expressed in humankind’s free and creative collaboration with God in the divine enterprise, to the point of total self-surrender for love. Even so, it is God who actively energizes and guides humankind’s collaboration, through God’s Spirit.

These eternal truths are emphasized throughout the Judeo-Christian tradition. The Book of Genesis conveys them powerfully through the timeless story of creation, especially in Chapters 1-2. Elaborating on this, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) reiterates that

God, infinitely perfect and blessed in God’s self, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created humans to make them share in God’s own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to humans. God calls them to seek God, to know God, to love God with all their strength (CCC 1).

The truth that God is at work in all the actions of God's creatures is inseparable from faith in God the Creator. God is the first cause who operates in and through secondary causes: “For God is at work in you, both to will and to work for God’s good pleasure” [Phil 2:13]. (CCC 308)

Ignatian Spirituality underscores these two equally important aspects of divine primacy: God as the beginning and end of all things, and God’s active, loving presence with humankind in history. This is especially conveyed in the Spiritual Exercises through the “First Principle and Foundation” (Spiritual Exercises, Spex 23) and the “Contemplation to Attain the Love of God” (Spex 230-237), which are like two bookends of the whole text:

Humans are created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save their soul. The other things on the face of the earth are created for humans to help them in attaining the end for which they are created. (Spex 23)

God dwells in creatures: in the elements giving them existence, in the plants giving them life, in the animals conferring upon them sensation, in man bestowing understanding. So He dwells in me and gives me being, life, sensation, intelligence; and makes a temple of me, since I am created in the likeness and image of the Divine Majesty … God works and labors for me in all creatures upon the face of the earth, that is, He conducts Himself as one who labors. Thus, in the heavens, the elements, the plants, the fruits, the cattle, etc., He gives being, conserves them, confers life and sensation, etc. (Spex 235-236)

As mentioned above, those who currently do not subscribe to any formal theistic faith tradition might still be able to relate to the above points in terms of a universal driving force of goodness in the world. For instance, the popular advocate of mindfulness, Eckhart Tolle, holds that through interior consciousness, human persons can become aware of “an eternal, ever-present One Life beyond the myriad forms of life” (1999, 2). Similarly, in expounding on "Theory U", organizational expert C. Otto Scharmer points out the existence of an “originating source” of insight, inspiration, self, and will, in the depths of human interiority (2009, 10). Renowned sociologist Charles Taylor describes the profound sense of “fullness” experienced by some people, such as when they contemplate the beauty of nature (2007, 5-6).

For pastoral planning, the fundamental principle of divine primacy reminds us to avoid the pitfalls of secularism, Pelagian humanism, and even deism or agnosticism. We cannot plan as if God does not exist or has any active involvement or interest in our plans. This is easier said than done. Faith-based organizations, especially those working actively along various mainstream sectors of society such as education, social development, healthcare, or livelihood enterprises, can sometimes find ourselves pulled towards indicators and measures of success that are more typical of secular organizations. Though some of these measures of success might be needed, the problem is when they become ends in themselves during pastoral planning, thus marginalizing more holistic goals that resonate with the divine vision for creation and promote flourishing in all dimensions of life - physical, social, cultural, moral, and spiritual. As Pope John Paul II has stressed, 

a pastoral plan is not a matter of inventing a ‘new programme’. The programme already exists, it is the plan found in the gospel and in the living tradition, it is the same as ever. Ultimately it has its centre in Christ himself, who is to be known, loved and imitated, so that in him we may live the life of the Trinity and with him we may transform history until fulfilment” (Novo Millenio Ineunte, 6 January 2001, para. 29).

Among some faith-based organizations, there is also a tendency to adopt secular, business-like ways of leading and managing, including planning, due in part to a misconception about being 'professional' or 'modern'. Though much can be learnt from secular disciplines, there is a need to ensure that every organizational practice is consonant with the way of the Gospel. Particularly with regard to the business world's focus on results, we could recall Pope Francis' words on the fruits of mission that   

this fruitfulness is often invisible, elusive and unquantifiable ... Sometimes it seems that our work is fruitless, but mission is not like a business transaction or investment, or even a humanitarian activity. It is not a show where we count how many people come as a result of our publicity; it is something much deeper, which escapes all measurement. It may be that the Lord uses our sacrifices to shower blessings in another part of the world which we will never visit. The Holy Spirit works as he wills, when he wills and where he wills; we entrust ourselves without pretending to see striking results. We know only that our commitment is necessary. Let us learn to rest in the tenderness of the arms of the Father amid our creative and generous commitment. Let us keep marching forward; let us give him everything, allowing him to make our efforts bear fruit in his good time (Evangelii Gaudium, EG 279).

Sometimes faith-based organizations, in our zeal to ‘save the world’, can also get carried away with Pelagian tendencies and forget our dependence on God. Pope Francis cautions that

though it is true that this mission demands great generosity on our part, it would be wrong to see it as a heroic individual undertaking, for it is first and foremost the Lord’s work, surpassing anything which we can see and understand … the primacy always belongs to God, who has called us to cooperate with him and who leads us on by the power of his Spirit ... The life of the Church should always reveal clearly that God takes the initiative, that “he has loved us first” (1 Jn 4:19) and that he alone “gives the growth” (1 Cor 3:7). This conviction enables us to maintain a spirit of joy in the midst of a task so demanding and challenging that it engages our entire life. God asks everything of us, yet at the same time he offers everything to us (EG 12).

Echoing this, Father General Arturo Sosa SJ of the Society of Jesus points out that: "Discernment in common is the prior condition for apostolic planning at all levels of the Society’s organizational structure. Thus, discernment in common and apostolic planning work in tandem to ensure that decisions are made in the light of the experience of God, and that these decisions are put into practice in such a way that they realize the will of God with evangelical effectiveness .. apostolic planning born of discernment in common becomes an instrument of our apostolic effectiveness, and we avoid the dangers of a trendy type of planning that makes use of only the techniques of corporate development." (On Discernment in Common, 2017/11). 

All this calls for humility and reverence for God in pastoral planning. At the same time, in contrast with a deist or agnostic view of a distant, disinterested, and uninvolved divine creator, pastoral planning based on the above principles entails constant and confident attentiveness to God’s ever-present and loving guidance and inspiration in every step of the pastoral planning process. It is also undergirded by ultimate confidence in the saving grace of God.

How can we better align ourselves with the divine purpose, cultivate an attitude of trust, confidence, and humility, and be more sensitive to the inspiration of God's Spirit? Ignatian Spirituality highlights the way of spiritual discernment, which is a capacity that needs to be cultivated over time. The Spiritual Exercises offer many means to grow in this regard. 

God calls every human person to collaborate in the divine life-giving enterprise, and to do so not without any free will but as intentional and responsible agents who can make a difference in the world. As declared by the CCC,

God is the sovereign master of God’s plan. But to carry it out God also makes use of humans’ co-operation… For God grants God’s creatures not only their existence, but also the dignity of acting on their own, of being causes and principles for each other, and thus of co-operating in the accomplishment of God’s plan (CCC 306).

This statement highlights the dignity, responsibility, vocation, and freedom of every human person and the significance of human agency within the horizon of God's primacy. Hence the Church exhorts all people to “render mutual service according to the different gifts bestowed on each” (Gaudium et Spes, GS 32) and stresses that “each person finds his or her good by adherence to God's plan for him or her, in order to realize it fully: in this plan, he/she finds his/her truth, and through adherence to this truth he/she becomes free” (Caritas in Veritate, CV 1). In other words, everyone is endowed with particular charisms to collaborate in the divine enterprise, and such charisms resonate with one’s truest self, thus leading to fruitfulness and fullness of life.

Ignatian Spirituality highlights these foundational teachings of the Church. In particular, the Spiritual Exercises point out the reality of the human vocation vividly through meditations such as “The Call of an Earthly King” (Spex 91-98). In fact, the whole orientation of the Exercises, as mentioned earlier, is in helping people discern God’s call for them and to better align their lives with their vocation. The underlying worldview of the Exercises emphasizes the importance of the human vocation and human freedom, intentionality, charism, and responsibility. It also regards the process of human knowing as one which fruitfully engages all faculties of the human person, covering all dimensions of reality including the physical and empirical, affectivity and feelings, artistic sensibilities, cognition and meanings, intuition, moral consciousness, and spiritual sensibilities. This is well-illustrated in the various methods for prayer, reflection, and deliberation, which involve the five senses (Spex 66-67, 121-125), body posture (Spex 76), imagination (Spex 47), feelings (Spex 6, 48, 60), sound reasoning (Spex 178-188), memory (Spex 56), will (Spex 50), and interior affective movements or “spiritual consolations and desolations” (Spex 313-336). Such a holistic view of human epistemology coheres with the Church's teaching.

Along with the dignity of human persons, Catholic anthropology and theology also emphasize the intrinsic social nature of human persons, and the communal nature of participation in the life and mission of the trinitarian God. In fact, the communal solidarity that is developed in such participation is itself the very flourishing of life and a manifestation of the divine goal, even when formal program outcomes seem yet to be achieved. Countering an increasingly individualistic contemporary culture, the Second Vatican Council highlighted that “God did not create men and women as solitary beings” but “by their innermost nature men and women are social beings; and if they do not enter into relationships with others they can neither live nor develop their gifts” (GS 12). Human beings are thus created and meant to grow in ontological oneness such that each person’s identity is derived not in isolation but within an ordered and organic whole. The Council further stressed that

from the beginning of salvation history, God has chosen people not just as individuals but as members of a certain community. Revealing God’s mind to them, God called these chosen ones "God’s people" (Ex. 3:7-12), and even made a covenant with them on Sinai. This communitarian character is developed and consummated in the work of Jesus Christ (GS 32).

Hence humankind is created as a community, called as a community, and saved as a community. An important implication is that knowledge of truth and  reception of revelation is communal as well. A community receives God's communication as a single organic body and grows in its wisdom tradition. Truth and divine revelation comes through the sensus fidelium - a communal, spiritual epistemology of the faithful as one body. Discernment is thus not something done by an individual in isolation but always involves the community to various extents. It is rooted in a life of 'walking together' in the Spirit, a way of proceeding marked by the complementary principles of synodality and the sensus fidei. Applying this to a local church which was about to embark on a national synod process, Pope Francis underscored that "it has to be rooted in the Holy Spirit and that it has to be a 'walking together' of the entire Church, involving the laity, the religious, the clergy and the bishops." (Letter to Church in Germany, 2019). Similarly in religious congregations, Father General Arturo Sosa SJ points out to the Society of Jesus that "the Society must encourage the participation of the whole apostolic body, which is called to elect the best possible ways to contribute to the proclamation of the Good News and the transformation of the world, in this epoch of swift and profound changes." He further adds that: "There are many cases where persons who do not share our Christian faith collaborate in works of the Society or join with us in providing services to persons in need. Finding respectful and genuine ways to making them participants in the process of discernment in common is a challenge to our creativity and our freedom as sons and daughters of God." (On Discernment in Common, 2017/11). 

In addition to current circles of stakeholders and their discernment in the present time, the communal reality also comes with a historical dimension that cannot be ignored.  For the Church in particular, Pope Francis has highlighted that “Christianity is not only a doctrine, but a history that leads to this doctrine.” He cautions against being “ideological Christians” who take up positions based on personal preferences and “lack the memory of belonging to a people” - the People of God with a particular history of salvation and revelation that must be taken into account (Homily at Casa Santa Marta, May 7, 2020). 

Ignatius and the first companions experienced, first-hand, the reality of their call to be one apostolic body. This call resonated with their deepest desire despite the many external and internal challenges. In more recent years, the Society of Jesus has given renewed emphasis to the communal nature of its life and mission. This is particularly highlighted in General Congregations 35 and 36, though the theme is not entirely absent from earlier congregations. 

An increasingly globalized world has further called attention to the universal nature of such communion, even as the need to enhance the quality of local community life and local collaboration in mission is recognized. Hence overall, the need to recover community, synodality, and communal discernment as a way of life and mission, along with relevant practices such as the Spiritual Conversation, is now seeing a revitalization.

Besides the Christian tradition, the above principles are also germane to other major religions. Most faith traditions view human life as having an ultimate purpose, and believe that humans are called to strive towards greater fullness and fulfilment of the whole universe. Many major religions also espouse a view of creation as intimately inter-connected and communal. Indigenous traditions, in particular, emphasize the fundamental oneness of the whole universe, with each part profoundly affecting every other. 

For those who do not profess any religious beliefs, the above principles might nevertheless resonate with a widely-held view that humans find fulfilment in something larger than the self, and that the purpose and meaning of life is often realized through striving for the greater good. In addition, the intrinsic social and communal nature of humans is attested to in social science fields such as psychology, anthropology, and sociology. 

For pastoral planning, these principles imply the need for communities and organizations to identify their unique vocation and charism in the divine mission, and orientate their life, work, directions, and actions accordingly. Communal and personal vocations also need to be in mutual resonance. Pastoral planning as a communal undertaking based on the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises can help a community and its members discern their vocations and make the right choices accordingly. 

The Catholic faith tradition views the temporal universe not as something unholy or a place to escape from but as the very context in which God’s work of salvation is already occurring. The present earthly realm is thus a sacred place. As Laudato Si’ proclaims, “the entire material universe speaks of God’s love, God’s boundless affection for us” (Laudato Si', LS 84). Likewise, GS 36 highlights God’s revelation even in the development of secular disciplines, acknowledging that “the humble and persevering investigators of the secrets of reality are being led, as it were, by the hand of God, even unawares, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are.”

Countering a view held by some people in the Church which regarded worldly engagements as unholy and unspiritual, Vatican II stressed that

they are mistaken who, knowing that we have here no abiding city but seek one which is to come, think that they may therefore shirk their earthly responsibilities. For they are forgetting that by the faith itself they are more obliged than ever to measure up to these duties, each according to his proper vocation … Christians should rather rejoice that, following the example of Christ Who worked as an artisan, they are free to give proper exercise to all their earthly activities and to their humane, domestic, professional, social and technical enterprises by gathering them into one vital synthesis with religious values, under whose supreme direction all things are harmonized unto God's glory (GS 43).

Reiterating this, Pope Francis points out that

To be holy does not require being a bishop, a priest or a religious. We are frequently tempted to think that holiness is only for those who can withdraw from ordinary affairs to spend much time in prayer. That is not the case. We are all called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves (Gaudete Exsultate, GE 14).

Hence the Christian mission - and consequently pastoral planning - does not preclude any realm of the temporal world and is open to the divine communication through any aspect of it.

These tenets are fundamental in Ignatian Spirituality. In the Spiritual Exercises, the meditations on “The Call of the Earthly King” (Spex 91-100) and “The Incarnation” (Spex 101-109) are especially poignant in highlighting that the drama of salvation occurs on the very stage of the earthly temporal realm, and embraces all persons and all spheres of life. Finding God in all things is a central principle in Ignatian Spirituality. The Spiritual Exercises highlight that “God dwells in creatures: in the elements giving them existence, in the plants giving them life, in the animals conferring upon them sensation, in man bestowing understanding. So He dwells in me and gives me being, life, sensation, intelligence” (Spex 235). Hence the need to attend and adapt to the present realities of persons and contexts is evident throughout the Exercises, especially in the introductory guidelines on how these Exercises should be approached (Spex 4-20). Moreover, emphasizing the concrete, Ignatius stresses that “love ought to manifest itself in deeds rather than in words” (Spex 230). A meditation on “The Three Classes of Men” (Spex 149-157) also highlight the importance of concretely manifesting one’s interior freedom for God’s will by seeking to do the one thing necessary.

In line with the importance accorded to earthly history, the Catholic faith tradition elaborates on a holistic vision of the universe’s flourishing that comprises both the spiritual and material. For instance, the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church (CSD) points out that fullness of life comprises the “personal and social, spiritual and corporeal, historical and transcendent” (CSD 38). Likewise, Gaudium et Spes highlights the “common good” (GS 26) which upholds “people’s material needs and the requirements of their intellectual, moral, spiritual, and religious life” (GS 64). The universal good thus includes the physical well-being of all, especially the most vulnerable, as well as social solidarity and justice, equality, and peace. Cultural flourishing, including the development of humankind in a diversity of intellectual and wisdom traditions as well as in the arts and aesthetics, is also an integral facet as highlighted especially in Gaudium et Spes. Just as important is the growth of each person in authenticity, freedom, responsibility, morality, vocation, and participation. All these desirable ends are in turn directed towards the ultimate goal of union with God.

Ignatian Spirituality echoes this holistic vision of universal flourishing especially in the Spiritual Exercises and the life and teachings of Ignatius. In other religious traditions as well as in secular society, similar values can be observed. Most religions emphasize the promotion of the common good, with a similarly multi-dimensional view of the ‘good’, encompassing both the material and non-material. Global conventions such as the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Sustainable Development Goals also espouse a holistic view of universal values and desired ends, paying attention especially to the most vulnerable.

For communal discernment towards pastoral planning, the importance of the earthly temporal realm imply that due attention must be given to contextual realities, which include those realities within the community or organization, and in its surroundings. Pastoral planning entails listening attentively to the signs of the times, especially to the voices of the people including the marginalized, seeking relevant information about the context, and even going out to the peripheries while also not ignoring the realities that are right in front of us. Discernment, especially in pastoral planning, is not carried out in a vacuum or an ivory tower, nor limited to only 'other-worldly' and 'spiritual' matters. It is particularly cautious about potential blindspots, prejudices, and unverified assumptions. Just as important, it must eventually translate into concrete action.

The holistic vision of universal flourishing as described above can serve as a teleological compass by which persons, communities, and organizations in Church and society can develop shared values and goals, and discern their specific vocations and contributions. Just as important, this teleological vision requires that the planning process itself promotes communion, meaningful participation, personal authenticity, and growth in values, freedom, and discernment.

The Catholic tradition espouses a theology of change which sees the world as evolving and developing. The CCC highlights that

creation has its own goodness and proper perfection, but it did not spring forth complete from the hands of the Creator. The universe was created in a state of journeying toward an ultimate perfection yet to be attained, to which God has destined it (CCC 302). In God's plan this process of becoming involves the appearance of certain beings and the disappearance of others, the existence of the more perfect alongside the less perfect, both constructive and destructive forces of nature. With physical good there exists also physical evil as long as creation has not reached perfection (310).

This applies to the Church as well. Vatican II points out that the Church is “on earth, the initial budding forth of that kingdom. While it slowly grows, the Church strains toward the completed Kingdom” (Lumen Gentium, LG 5) and that it “will attain its full perfection only in the glory of heaven” (LG 48). In the meantime, the Church “needs the maturing influence of centuries of past experience” and thus its members are exhorted to ceaseless “purification and renewal” (GS 43). The motif of a pilgrimage is often used to describe the world as well as the Church. Most importantly, Christians believe confidently in the presence of God’s grace animating human persons and promising ultimate triumph of the good.

Ignatian Spirituality emphasizes this pilgrim character of human life, and highlights the polarity of human inclinations towards good and evil. The Spiritual Exercises acknowledge the existence of sin and its effects, especially in the meditations of the First Week. The descriptions of “The Three Types of Persons” as well as “The Three Kinds of Humility” (Spex 165-168) also recognize the varying degrees in which human persons commit to the good. The Rules for the Discernment of Spirits (Spex 313-336) are particularly poignant in highlighting the opposing directions to which human beings can be drawn, and the ways in which one can better follow the good spirit. Just as significantly, the Exercises emphasize the active influence of God’s spirit, and the ultimate victory of the good promised in Christ’s resurrection, even as the cross of suffering is an inevitable part of the journey. 

The battle between good and evil forces, and the triumphs and failings of human persons, are common themes which resonate in most religious traditions. Many people would also acknowledge the dynamic and developmental nature of human beings and of the world. An important implication is the need for all persons, communities, and organizations to regularly examine themselves, take stock of their journey, and seek renewal, strengthening, and conversion where needed. 

This underscores the importance of regular pastoral planning, provided it is seen as a process of communal renewal. Just as how a regular spiritual retreat helps individuals to be strengthened in their life and vocation, or even make a turnaround if they have been moving away from their true values and calling, pastoral planning is a pilgrimage journey of the communal mind, body, and spirit, and helps a group to be reconciled, re-centered, and rejuvenated. In this regard, self-examination towards conversion are vital in the process and rightly occurs at the beginning. 

The incomplete and ever-developing character of creation also implies that there is always room for further growth, further exploration, and improvement in a group's service to the world. Pope Francis has rightly emphasized that “mere administration can no longer be enough. Throughout the world, let us be permanently in a state of mission" (EG 25). Regular pastoral planning helps a group to avoid complacency, becoming too self-satisfied, or remaining entrenched in its comfort zone.   

Some groups may feel that their internal or external contexts are so volatile and unpredictable that it would be impossible to plan anything. Indeed, the word "plan" shares the same root meaning with words like "plane" and "planar", connoting flatness, smoothness, and the ability to see clearly over a predictable horizon. Real life is, of course, much the opposite. In fact, it is now common to regard disruption and unpredictability as the new normal. Even if the contexts of some groups are more stable and less fluid, certain people might be of the view that the very act of planning wrongly assumes humans' ability to have full mastery over history. Afterall, Psalm 33:10 in the Bible notes that “the Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.” Similarly, in Psalm 2, we read: "Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plan in vain? He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision" (Ps 2:1, 4).

No doubt the future and even the present are uncertain, and humans should not presume to be in full control of them. However, this all the more calls for a turning towards God - or the Universal Lifeforce for Good - and for a communal resolve to proceed in better alignment with the divine plan. This is what pastoral planning is all about. In this light, we might heed God's assurance in Scripture: "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).  

Consequently, we could view "planning" as "leveling" the road of our heart and mind, so as to "prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain" (Isaiah 40:3-4). Thus the community offers an open, unobstructed path for God's spirit so that God's promise can be fulfilled: "I will bring you back to your own land" (Ezekiel 36:24). Indeed, pastoral planning is a pilgrimage journey of coming home to our true identity and vocation before God. It is a communal rediscovery of a group's core values and charism, a spiritual discernment of the divine plan and of the group's role in it, and a dedication to carry out the necessary actions for the immediate road ahead. 

This applies to groups in fluid and relatively unpredictable contexts as well, though there would need to be more flexibility in planning so that whilst the overall discerned directions and priorities serve as a compass, specific goals and action plans can be revised in response to new developments and unexpected events. 

Whatever the context, a disposition of humility, openness, and faithfulness is needed, rather than rigidity, over-confidence, and close-mindedness. Practically speaking, a pastoral plan is often not completed in a way which many of us would like - comprehensive and definitive, with detailed goals, targets, and actions neatly mapped out for several years ahead.  Rather, a sense of uncertainty sometimes remains, and is in fact to be welcomed. When we reach the final step of the pastoral planning process, it is good to have a disposition of openness, trusting in God, continuing to listen attentively, and letting God lead us, revealing further things in God's good time. 

The imperfect nature of temporal life also calls for realistic expectations in setting targets and evaluating progress. Setbacks and failures are often an inevitable part of the journey, and can even present valuable learning and formative opportunities. Hence failures and other unexpected challenges need to be responded to in a discerning way. In this regard, pastoral planning must be accompaniment by on-going reflection and interior attentiveness throughout the ebb and flow of personal and organizational life, especially after the transition from planning to implementation. The Ignatian examen in its various forms can serve as a helpful tool to this end.

All in all, pastoral planning is a challenging yet potentially fruitful and grace-filled pilgrimage that beckons to be embarked upon "with great courage and generosity" (Spex 5).