For the first two centuries of Israel occupying the promised land they had been able to defend themselves against their enemies. The tribes would unite in times of danger and defeat the enemy. In the eleventh century a new enemy arose who were highly organized and militarized, the Philistines. The old ways no longer worked. Israel could not maintain its tribal structure and hope to defeat the enemy. The new moment in time required a new method of operating. Cardinal Cupich challenges the people of the Archdiocese to realize that we are at a new moment of time in the life of the Church. The old parish structures are insufficient to empower the Church to fulfill its mission. God expects us to do something new!
