Asphyxiation occurs when one is starved for oxygen and if left untreated can lead to suffocation. Of course we need oxygen to survive. In a similar way, we need God to survive spiritually. This is why, according to Saint Pope Paul VI, many parishes are suffering from a kind of "spiritual asphyxiation" where they are starved of spiritual oxygen. He said:

"Baptism and confirmation call each member of the Church....When the missionary spirit is lacking in a Christian community, it is not only the whole Church that suffers from this lack of support and communion, but it is this community itself that is dedicated to spiritual asphyxiation. Whatever other tensions or internal problems, rekindling this flame remains a priority pastoral goal.”

When a parish or diocese (or individual Christian) is not on mission, they will have spiritual asphyxiation. In other words, when a community (or disciple) is not evangelizing others, they are starved of spiritual oxygen, the very breath of our spiritual lives.

Why is this?
Because every disciple of Jesus is made for mission and every Catholic parish and diocese is made to build all Catholics into missionary disciples who know how to make other missionary disciples. Notice that when Jesus calls the Peter and Andrew, he tells them what their mission is immediately - Jesus is going to make them into “fishers of men.” They aren’t just supposed to follow Jesus, and be good people. Not, he has a mission for them. They need to do what he does, say what he says, and be agents of grace, as he is. They need to "make disciples".

Grace isn't given to followers of Jesus just to save them, it is meant to be shared and be vessels of grace so others can share in the salvation of Jesus.
The Catechism put it this way:

"As the "convocation" of all men for salvation, the Church in her very nature is missionary, sent by Christ to all the nations to make disciples of them." -CCC 767

Pope Francis wrote:

"John Paul II asked us to recognize that “there must be no lessening of the impetus to preach the Gospel” to those who are far from Christ, “because this is the first task of the Church”. Indeed, “today missionary activity still represents the greatest challenge for the Church” and “the missionary task must remain foremost”. What would happen if we were to take these words seriously? We would realize that missionary outreach is paradigmatic for all the Church’s activity." -Pope Francis, EG 15

Still, the remedy for this condition isn't not an easy one to attain. We need change in the culuture of our parishes . It starts with humility and prayer. We can then really discern what each of us needs, in order to grow as leaders.
We need the proper vision.
We need help.

God wants renewal in our Church, so that we can save souls. Remember that a handful of disciples changed the world in a few generations, after Pentecost. What about us? Let us start by assessing where we are at, by answering the following questions.

Questions Every Catholic Leader Needs to Ask (and Answer)

1. Do we have the proper vision, that focuses on evangelization and discipleship? If you don't know where you are going, then you are lost. The good thing is, Jesus provides us a mission statement (a statement for why we exist) - "go and make disciples". But, how we live that out in each particular context, needs to be discerned. This takes visionary leadership, planning, and implementation of the plan.
2. What assumptions are we making that will hurt the implementation of our vision? Do we assume that because someone is "involved" (or even on staff) that they are an intentional disciple? Do we assume that people know how to respond to Jesus? Do we assume that our parishioners, staff, volunteers, etc know how to pray and are doing so? Now...if we stopped making such assumptions, how would it change our plans and how we operate?
3. Are our primary goals to make missionary disciples and then to help them flourish and go into the mission fields themselves? If not, then we are not achieving the mission that Jesus gave us (see #1). It also can't be that we merely have the right goals on paper, but we also need to have a clear strategy for how to achieve them. Also, are we accountable to achieving our goals? How?
4. How do we measure success? This is a very tough question, so instead of answering it and trying to measure success, according to a vision, most just skip it. We should measure everything that we can - objective numbers (Mass attendance, kids in R.E., small group numbers, marriages, etc) but keep in mind that they don't tell the full story. This means that one way to measure is what you can control, the decisions of staff and key volunteers. Here is another post which lays out more detail on how to measure success.
5. Do we have a clear path for every member of our parish to become a fully-committed and holy missionary disciple of Jesus? If not, it is time to develop one. This means every part of the process should be included - pre-evangelization (relationship building), evangelization (encounters with Jesus, explicit proclamations of the Gospel, invitations to respond, and conversion), and discipleship (accompaniment with other disciples who help them grow in holiness, prayer, virtue, service, and mission). There are no accidents in ministry. So, plan appropriately. Here is more on what a pathway of discipleship might look like.
6. Do we pray together (as leaders) and discern God's will together? If you aren't praying from start to finish of this process, then you are excluding God from the process. Most staffs don't really pray together. Rather, they pray in front of one another. This isn't a time to fall back on your favorite prayer style and stick to your guns. Rather, it is a corporate discernment process. We need to be open to our own hearts changing and the Holy Spirit moving.
7. What is holding us back from growing and what can we do about it? Is it Church politics? Then deal with those with honest conversations. Is it past failures or hurt relationships? Then seek new beginnings and forgiveness. Is it an entrenched mentality of "we have always done it this way"? Then challenge it boldly. No matter what it is, work on moving the barriers to success and growth.
8. Are we empowering our parishioners to take on the mission of the parish or is staff doing it all ourselves? Nobody can do this all alone, even parish or diocesan staff. In fact, that isn't what God wants at all! He wants to empower His body, to go and change the world. Those you serve, should be growing right alongside you. Don't think this is for professionals alone. It isn't. Also, think of success in terms of relationships that lead to conversion - not just activities at church.

Many don't know where to start and that is ok. Many need help, that is ok too. In fact, it may be easier for someone from outside your diocese, parish, or ministry to help, because they don't have to deal with all of the internal issues and history. We at Catholic Missionary Disciples, would love to assist you, if you feel called to reach out to us, please do so.