Adobe® Version  Celebration 125 Years

13 July 2008

Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ

“A Chance to Grow Rich”

     Thursday, we began a Life in the Spirit Seminar as part of our Jubilee Year spiritual exercises. The Life in the Spirit Seminar helps an individual to grow in their relationship with God by reflecting upon the areas of life and faith where God’s Spirit most often leads us. Individuals who have a deeper sense of God’s Presence in their lives will also strengthen a parish’s devotion to God through evangelization, devotion to the Eucharist, works of mercy and common prayer. If it seems like I am pushing you to attend this Seminar (or at least part of it), I am. Without a willingness to grow spiritually, our Jubilee becomes just an anniversary and our parish is just another year older. And who needs to be just another year older?

     Once again, I thank all of the hundreds of volunteers who worked tirelessly and lovingly at our opening celebration and Starlight Picnic. Most of the parishioners and guests have no idea how many people worked many long hours that day and for months previously in order for us to enjoy that celebration. You are wonderful! Very few people know of the hundreds of problems that came up and were solved just as quickly by our coordinators and staff. They are to be commended. Most amazingly, Sunday morning left no visible signs that we held a party the night before! Those who cleaned up, many of the same people who helped to set up twelve hours earlier, worked with unbelievable vigor to leave the lot cleaner than it began.

     I bring all this up again for two reasons. First, I can never thank you enough for your dedication to the parish and to the parishioners. Secondly, if every parishioner were willing to work together for the sake of our faith that the volunteers who worked the Starlight Picnic showed, then our parish would lack for nothing. No, not everyone can pick up tables, not every one can stand in the hot sun and serve food. But if every parishioner has a living faith, a faith that feeds their daily lives, then our parish needs nothing more.

     As I have said for a long time, we are a very rich parish. We have very little money, but money is not the measure of wealth. If we measure richness by our faith in God, by our willingness to work together, by our recognition of our blessings, then we are very rich indeed. However, the Gospel reminds us that great wealth brings great responsibility to use that richness wisely. We are to be stewards of the gifts we have received. For our parish, that means we must evangelize because we believe. We must work on our common goals and vision and not just on fund-raisers and special events. We must put aside our tendency to complain when we have so much to be thankful for. In this way, we show that the faith sown in us has been sown into very good soil, yielding by our stewardship an abundance of a hundred or sixty or thirty fold.

     This Jubilee Year is a chance to grow rich in faith. Don’t let it slip away!

               Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ,

Adobe® Version  Celebration 125 Years

6 July 2008

Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ

“I Give You Praise, Father”

     When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, he deliberately enshrined human rights as endowed by the Creator, not by earthly powers. Going far beyond the mandate to simply declare the colonies’ independence from England and their grievances against its King, Jefferson set forth that certain rights are “inalienable” and therefore must be recognized by all as coming from God. Shortly after independence was won from England, divisions developed within American society as to how these rights were to be enjoyed by both individuals and society as a whole. For some, the rights of society trump an individual’s exercise of freedom; for others (Jefferson included), the rights of individuals must reign even if that means the government itself must be replaced. From these divisions, grew two political parties. While the original parties have changed names and adapted differing opinions over the years, our American Society is still plagued with two major political parties whose sole purpose is trying to convince us that their view of individual and societal rights is the correct balance for the American people.

     The terrorist attacks in 2001 changed the terms of the debate to include the need for security. The attacks so frightened us that many individual liberties were trounced upon and we are still trying to find the new balance between a secure and free society and secure and free individuals. Thus, we welcome security cameras that keep us safe, but abhor the cameras that catch us speeding or running a traffic light. We are thankful that no more attacks have occurred, but we hate waiting in security lines at the airport.

     But the typical Fourth of July party is nothing more than food and fireworks. There are no great debates on liberty and human rights. More often than not, the only mention of God is a simple “God bless America.” And the “inalienable rights” we celebrate are no longer remembered as being endowed by our Creator; they are simply “inalienable.” 

     As Americans, we have a greater need than most people to give praise to God. Not only are we greatly blessed, but the very rights we cherish and we have struggled to balance these last 232 years come to us (and to all people) from the hand of God. We would be ungrateful, indeed, if we take these rights for granted instead of as the divine gifts they truly are. And in these days when we have so many burdens, so many worries, so many problems, remembering that  we can come to the same God who gives us life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness enables us to find rest for our souls in these troubling times.

     Giving praise to God, going to Church, can seem to some people like a burden on a beautiful Sunday morning. For those who make the effort to be here or to attend the Life in the Spirit Seminar beginning this Thursday, the burden is very light indeed. And the reward is very great!

               Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ,

Adobe® Version Feast of Saints Peter & Paul

29 June 2008

Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ

“Recovering Our Senses”

     The opening celebration for our Jubilee Year  last weekend was absolutely amazing. Despite the hundreds (and I mean hundreds) of little problems, the threat of rain, the tedium of counting and recounting tables and chairs, and attending to all the last second details, everyone enjoyed the Mass and Picnic with unparalleled success! A heartfelt thank you to all the planners, the staff and  the volunteers who made it all look perfect. I walked through the day like Peter being released from prison, thinking it was all a vision compared to the nightmare of two years of planning.

     But now it is time for me and for you to recover our senses as Peter did once the angel left him. And what did Peter realize once he recovered his senses? “Now I know for certain that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me.” (Acts 12:11) St. Paul uses the same phrase in his letter to Timothy (2Tim 4:17-18), saying that he “was rescued from the lion’s mouth” and then adds that the Lord will rescue him “from every evil threat”. No, our lives are not in immediate danger as were the lives of Peter and Paul, but the Lord does rescue us so often from sin and hubris and just plain stupidity that our spiritual lives are like a fog which is difficult to navigate. As person after person came up to me last Saturday and Sunday to say how nice everything was, I thanked God constantly for having blessed us so. When some of the sisters asked me how we got so much accomplished, my mind went back to St. Paul’s words, “The Lord stood by me and gave me strength.” On Saturday evening, Stanley reminded me that St. Paul did not stop his sentence there. The second half of that sentence is “so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it.”

     To me, recovering our senses does not mean we come down from the emotional high of our celebration. Recovering our senses means that we continue the mission the Lord has entrusted to us to proclaim Christ to others. At St. Aloysius, that mission has been defined for the last 124 years by a community willing to open its arms to everyone, no matter their language, their background, their race, their economic status, their style of life. We embrace every one of God’s children and share with them a faith which they can use as a rock to build their lives upon. Our mission to proclaim Christ has been defined by our commitment to provide for the poor and the needy of our community, to praise God as often as possible, to evangelize in every possible way, and to accept that we are  stewards of God’s blessings, responsible to Him for using wisely the grace bestowed upon us.

     Now that the first celebration is past, I encourage you to follow the examples of Peter and Paul. Prepare for the next celebration by recovering your sense of thankfulness and stewardship, recovering your commitment to the poor, the immigrant, the disenfranchised, and recovering your faith in Jesus Christ, “the Son of the living God.”

Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ,

Adobe® Version Easter Sunday - Fifth Sunday of Easter

22 June 2008

Adobe® Version  Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

15 June 2008

Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ

“What Makes a Jubilee?”

     In last week’s column, I began to list some of the decisions the parish leaders and staff working together came up with as we plan for our jubilee year. Before I go into the rest of our decisions, I ask you to reflect once more upon the difference between an anniversary celebration and a Jubilee Year. Anniversaries  mark the date of an historical event, such as a marriage or the founding of a parish. Anniversaries happen every year, and every ten, twenty-five or fifty years, special celebrations mark these milestone anniversaries. Anniversaries are a chance to look back on what has been and give thanks. They also call us to look forward and dream about what can be.

     A Jubilee Year is a biblical call for renewal of our covenant relationship with God. In the Bible, a jubilee was called every fifty years. The Church also celebrates Jubilee years. Recognizing that Christian Spirituality is an ongoing call to conversion in our lives and the world we live in, Pope Paul VI changed the timing of the Jubilee Year from every 50 years to every 25 years. Later, Pope John Paul II, bowing to the unprecedented times we live in, called for jubilee years to mark the significant anniversaries of our faith: 1,950 years since the crucifixion of Jesus (1983), 2,000 years since the birth of Mary (1987), 2,000 years since the birth of Christ. At the end of June, the Church will begin celebrating the 2,000th year since the birth of St. Paul. These “Holy Years” are calls to spiritual renewal and re-commitment to our Catholic faith. They are not simply special anniversaries, but times to re-make our relationship with God and to seek special grace in our lives.

     This Saturday, we begin a Jubilee Year in our parish. Our 125th anniversary is not about looking back nor planning for the future. Our celebrations ask us to reflect upon our own covenant with the Lord; renew our founding mission and to lead lives that will proclaim Christ more faithfully everyday. To this end, our leadership has made the following decisions:

1. Human Concerns will communicate better to serve the needs of the underprivileged and to help us see the needs that so many people have every day.

2. Evangelization will continue to call us to be a welcoming parish and will reach out to invite others to know Christ through our community at train stations and reaching out to new neighbors.

3. Stewardship will raise funds “with a purpose” reminding us that we are not about raising money, but in order to proclaim Christ and help others, we need money to provide for our ministries. They will give more detailed reports on fund-raising efforts.

4. Parish Life will call us to open our arms to the diversity of our parishioners and our neighborhood.

5. Formation of parishioners will focus on furthering our understanding of Catholic teaching and beliefs, helping our young people to live their faith.

6. Spiritual Life of our parish will center, as always, around the Eucharist. We will use retreats and adoration to deepen the spiritual life of our parishioners beyond simply attending Mass. We hope you will join in this Jubilee!

Adobe® Version  Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

8 June 2008

Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ

“Working Together”

   Last Sunday, our parish leaders and group leaders came together to plan for our Jubilee Year. We learned a number of things as we spent 3 hours together at the Formation Center.

1. We learned that trying to fit all the pieces of a parish together is not as easy as it looks. Different  people, different needs, and different ideas about what we should be doing can often distract us from the task at hand. Issues such as language, openness to others and willingness to cooperate can lead to disunity and isolation.

2. We learned that we must use all the pieces we have and to recognize that the tools we need are right in front of us. Part of our faith is a firm belief that the Lord provides us with the spiritual gifts necessary for the building up of the Body of Christ. If a group of the parish is feeling overwhelmed or burdened in its ministry, most often, it is working alone instead of working together as a parish to complete the apostolic task.

3. We learned that there is never enough time. We did not have enough time for prayer together. We did not have enough time to complete our opening exercise. We did not have time to make our plans for the year. And we did not have enough time to draw everything to a conclusion.

4. This meeting was more successful than any of our previous meetings. In previous years, we would spend two or three hours and produce a parish calendar that was often flawed and incomplete, but we produced something. This year, we produced nothing, but we went home feeling more united and better connected than ever before! In previous years, each group protected their own events. This year, we talked about what we wanted for the parish. In the next couple of weeks, we will finalize the parish calendar and all of the events for our Jubilee. Right now, I would like to summarize our decisions.

     A Jubilee is meant to be a time of renewal for the parish and for the parishioners as well. Our celebrations and our events will focus on helping us to renew in each of us the excitement of our faith and our commitment to both the Lord and the parish.

     Spiritually, we want to emphasize the blessings that come from the Eucharist, in particular, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. We are also planning 3 retreats to help renew the faith of our leaders, our young people and the overall parish.

     Formationally, we will emphasize greater understanding of Catholic teachings and beliefs. We ask adults to consider attending one of the Bible studies or classes we will have.

     Next week, more of our decisions!

                           Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ,

 Our Jubilee begins in less than 2 weeks!

Adobe® Version  Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

1 June 2008

Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ

“Working Together”

Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ

“What We Did in His Name”

     As we welcome Father Robert Rizzo today and the parishioners from St. Hubert Parish, I am awed once again by the wonderful sharing relationship we have had for more than thirty years! Our relationship with the people of St. Hubert Parish has been of great benefit to all of us, but I am particularly grateful for the impact it has had in my life.

     Unfortunately, many people who fail to get involved in our sharing parish activities have no idea what it can mean for their own spiritual lives. Having gone to St. Hubert monthly for the last few years, I still meet quite a few people there who do not know where St. Aloysius is or what goes on here, other than they give us money once a month. On this side of the airport, far too many of our parishioners know so very little about St. Hubert and the people of Hoffman Estates that they think the streets of suburbia are paved with gold. How sad! They look at St. Hubert as a kind of rich uncle who helps us out in times of need.

     Hoffman Estates is a working class suburb and many families there have homes which are smaller than some of the apartments we live in. Yes, there are some pockets of wealth, but half of the money collected for the needy at St. Hubert is given to people living in their own parish! Despite the fact that there are still more people in need out there, they choose to help us out every month as well. St. Hubert is a much larger parish and more diverse than we are. They have a large immigrant population from the Philippines, Mexico, Central and South America, Poland, Italy, Ireland, India, Africa, the Caribbean Islands. They also have a lot of second and third generation Americans. What they don’t have is Mass in all these languages, but they do celebrate a lot of cultural activities for their people.

     Over the years, the people from St. Hubert have helped teach our CCD program, feed our hungry, clothe our homeless, provide jobs for our workers, support our single mothers, our First Communion families, and provided supplies for our school children. They have welcomed us into their home on any number of occasions and brought Christmas gifts and food baskets to our needy families. Most of all, they have prayed for us on a constant basis and provided ministerial training for our staff. We have played and prayed and worked together.

     Our people have been strengthened by this relationship. We help other parishes with our limited resources, and trusting in the help we receive from our sharing parishes, especially from St. Hubert, we have constantly increased our ministry to the poor, evangelized our neighborhood and learned how deeply gratitude can inspire us to reach beyond the chains of poverty so as to bring hope to others.

     Anyone who has not been paying attention these last 30 years might think that today’s Mass is simply two churches praising God. For the rest of you, it’s our way of saying to God, “Look what we did in Your Name!”

                      Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ,

Adobe® Version - The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

25 May 2008

Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ

“Whoever Eats This Bread Will Live Forever”

     Almost every day for the last twenty-four years, I have held a host in my hand and broken it during the “Lamb of God” at Mass. I wrote my thesis in Sacred Theology on the Real Presence of Christ, examining the various theological explanations and their impact for the life of the Church. I have spent hours in adoration and benediction with the Eucharist, united in prayer with our saving Lord. I have been strengthened by receiving Communion countless numbers of times. I have trembled with humility at holding the Blessed Lord in my hands before receiving Him or placing Him into the luna for adoration. I have seen the comfort in people’s eyes when I have brought the Eucharist to those who are sick. I have genuflected many times out of respect for my Lord and I have preached about ways each of us can show respect for the Lord as well.

     Above all else, that moment when I hold up the Host and break it as we sing, “Lamb of God” inspires me more than any other action in my priesthood. That is why I often hold the Host and wait for people to finish the Sign of Peace before I will begin the Fraction Rite. That action, when the Host is broken symbolizes all that we lack, all that we pray for, and all that we need in our lives. Only the act of receiving Holy Communion itself, when we are intimately united to the Passion and Resurrection of Christ and all separation between heaven breaks down is more powerful. However, receiving Communion is such an intimate moment, that our prayer tends to collapse inward upon ourselves and our relationship with Christ. We often fail to recognize the transcendent nature of Holy Communion and how it symbolizes our unity with the entire Body of Christ because we are lost in the intimacy of that moment. On the other hand, during the Fraction Rite, or the breaking of the large host by the priest before Communion,    the soul straddles the bridge between heaven and earth, between the intimate and the universal, between sacrifice and suffering, between hope and despair, between Christ and ourselves. So powerful is the symbol of the Host being broken that even those who cannot receive Communion because of sin, marital difficulty or their youth can feel the Presence of the Lord at this moment. Christ, our hope, is before us. He is broken by our sin, yet He gives Himself freely out of love for the sinner. Broken into many pieces, we all share in the One Body and are united by our common Communion.

     As a priest, I have both the honor and the shame of breaking the Host. I am shamed by my own sin and the sins of all of us which led to the Passion of Christ. I am shamed to stand before God and plead for mercy, knowing we deserve less. Moreover, I am honored to hold the love of God in my hands. I am honored to stand in the person of Christ and invite you to taste eternal life. And I am honored to know that I am invited as well.

     Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ,

Adobe® Version  Trinity Sunday

18 May 2008

Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ

“O Lord, Do Come Along”

     This year’s readings for Trinity Sunday pull away from a theological presentation of the relationship of the Trinity (three persons in one God) to focus upon our own relationship with the Lord. The only mention of the Trinity comes from St. Paul’s greeting in the second reading, which priests still use today as a greeting at Mass.

     In that second reading, St. Paul reminds us that our relationship with God is reflective of our relationship with one another. In order to have God’s love and peace in our own lives, we must be willing to live in peace with one another, mending our ways and encouraging and agreeing with one another. In a passage often quoted out of context by evangelicals in order to emphasize a need for faith, Jesus in John’s Gospel says that God wants us to have eternal life and not perish in sin. Unfortunately, we often neglect to preach the will of God in favor of preaching the necessity of faith.

     For me, the Exodus reading most fully expresses that sense of relationship with God which helps to build our spiritual lives. Moses had requested to “see” the Lord and God promised to fulfill this request, but only to see the back of the Lord because the glory of God’s face would have instantly struck Moses dead. Unfortunately, our passage today is a small part of a beautiful, larger passage from Exodus, chapters 33 & 34 which you really should read in its entirety to appreciate this relationship.  Even so, we have some wonderful themes about our relationship with God from today’s passage.

     Our relationship with God begins by knowing God’s law. Moses takes with him the two stone tablets upon which to write the law after he had broken the original 10 commandments because of the people’s sin. Because God desires us to know Him and reveals Himself to us, many people think that they have to do nothing to know God. To truly know God means that we study His Word and that we keep His law.

     God’s name is overwhelming. In earlier times, names were chosen to represent character, to offer saintly inspiration to a child or to honor an elder. Today, names are crafted with false meanings or found in soap operas or simply sound good to the parents. The Hebrew name of God, “YHWH”, or “I am” reflects the overwhelming reality of God Himself. While we use many endearing titles for God, such as “Father”, “Brother”, “Advocate”, the closer we come to God in our relationship, the more humbled we are by His glory, by His Being.

     Finally, we must invite God to come along on our journey of life. We often think of ourselves as on “the road to heaven,” but the truth is, we are on our own road. The only reason that road leads us to heaven is because God accompanies us along the way, “pardoning our wickedness and sins, and receiving us” as His own. May your relationship with God be blessed this day and always, and may God walk with you!

     Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ

Adobe® Version Pentecost Sunday

11 May 2008

Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ

“Born of the Spirit”

     Because of the early Easter Season, Pentecost is celebrated on Mother’s Day this year. The first couple of times this happened in my priesthood, I was perturbed, wondering how could I preach on both the gift of the Spirit and the gift of Motherhood. In addition, Catholic Charities holds its annual collection on Mother’s Day, and they always want us to mention something about the good they do as well. Some years, I would struggle to combine all these themes into a coherent homily; other times, I would simply preach on one topic and not the other. Thankfully, this confluence of celebrations does not happen that often.

     The celebration of Pentecost is important because the Church was born the day the Holy Spirit filled the Apostles and Mary and sent them to preach the Gospel. The power of the Spirit changed their lives and the course of human history in a way no other event has ever done. Yet, Pentecost is not a memorial; it invokes a present reality because we share in the gifts of that same Holy Spirit. We are also changed. by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Every year, we are re-born by this celebration as the Spirit renews His gifts within us. 

     Being born of the Spirit makes me appreciate the gift of my mother more and more. Only a poor understanding of theology would lead us to think that Christ rejects human nature when He says, “you must be born from above.” (Jn 3:3) In order to highlight this misunderstanding, St. John uses a Greek word which can mean either “again” or “from above”. He has Nicodemus think of it as “again” while Jesus means “from above.” For her part, my mother used the gifts of the Holy Spirit one by one to help me see what comes from above and how my life is remade by God’s Holy Spirit. While many people honor their mothers for their patience and their gentleness, my mother shared with me knowledge and her understanding of God’s ways. She imparted the wisdom of her elders and counseled me to do good at all times for others. I know that many times she was physically weakened by the burden of raising her eight children, yet she was always strong in front of us and gave us strength in front of others. She never dragged us to church to perform little acts of piety (she couldn’t stand to fight with us that long); rather, she inspired in us a devotion to God by having a few significant religious items in the house which she revered greatly. She truly taught us the gift of “awe” as it is meant to be: both fear of God’s judgment and desire for God’s grace. Oh, we were not a holy family by any stretch of the imagination, but we are not lost souls either. Virtues like patience and kindness were often missing from our daily lives. But the gifts of God’s Spirit were never lacking because we were born into them. Thanks, Mom!

Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ,

Adobe® Version  Ascension of the Lord

4 May 2008

Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ

“Light One Candle”

     As I was driving home last Sunday, I was thinking about this week’s column and the song, “Light One Candle” by Peter, Paul and Mary came to mind. Since the song was written for Hanukah/Advent Season, it may seem strange that it came to mind while I was reflecting on the readings for the Ascension. Actually, it all began with my trip to the Holy Land.

     On our first full day in Jerusalem, we began our tour at the Mount of the Ascension, which is a holy site for both Christians and Muslims. Because the day was to include a long list of sites to visit, the tour guide was hoping to hurry us along. Ascension Mount offers a beautiful view of old Jerusalem, but it has a rather small and non-descript looking church. As she gave her overview of the site, I felt a strong connection to the place where Jesus ascended, where He left His disciples, where Heaven and earth were bridged together. Despite the wishes of the tour guide, I did not want to leave that place where our Lord bade farewell to his apostles and promised to be with us always. In my heart, there was both sadness and hope, longing and peace. Knowing that I had to move on, I went quickly into the church (which was not impressive in anyway) and saw that there were candles you could light. I lit one candle at the sight, praying for the pilgrims, praying for my deceased brother and grandparents, and praying for my own spiritual journey. With a heavy heart, I boarded the bus as we moved backward in Christian time to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

     As I thought of that one candle burning in the Church of the Ascension, the song, “Light One Candle” came to mind. It, too, speaks of hope and loss, of sadness and strength during the Maccabbean revolution and how that hope and strength is still present today. For Catholics, there is one candle which we light which symbolizes all the emotions of faith which we cannot fully describe. The Paschal Candle, blessed and lit on Holy Saturday, represents the light of Christ, shining through the darkness, standing tall to light the path for our earthly journey, giving of itself so that the joy of Easter may fill our hearts each time we come to church. In the old Liturgy, the Paschal Candle was extinguished right after reading the Ascension Gospel, symbolizing that Christ is no longer present on earth. In most Catholic Churches, the candle remains lit through Pentecost, when the light of Christ is found most fully in our hearts and no longer needs to be seen apart from us. Throughout the rest of the year, the Easter Candle is lit at Baptisms to welcome new members. At funerals, it calls our dearly departed to ascend with Christ to heaven. Even when it is unlit, it stands as a symbol for all of us that Christ is our light for the journey, our hope in the darkness, and our strength against sin. As the candles lifts our eyes toward heaven, we know that we are united with Christ. No longer orphans, we share in Christ’s light, in the joy which comes from faith in the risen Lord.

Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ,

Adobe® Version  Sixth Sunday of Easter

27 April 2008

Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ

“Give an Explanation”

     Watching the crowds respond to Pope Benedict’s visit last week was quite heartwarming. Catholics and non-Catholics alike responded to his message of humility and hope. He shared the pain of those who had been hurt in the sex abuse crisis, yet he also shared the hope of any believer in Christ. He reminded us that pain and fear, no matter where it comes from, cannot conquer the hope which springs from God’s love for us. For a Pope that many consider to be a “hardliner, ” theologically, his message and his presence was far more unifying than anyone could have guessed. His explanation:  Christ gives us hope.

     I was buying flowers the other day for the altar when one of the workers at Home Depot saw the full cart of flowers and the ferns hanging off the side. Jokingly she said, “It looks like there’s a party.” I thought for about a second how to respond to her and I said, “Yes, there is. It’s at church on Sunday, and you’re invited!” The poor lady wasn’t ready for religion, so she said nothing more. I thought, “What a shame. She doesn’t know what she’s missing.” My explanation: we need to rejoice in our faith.

     Finally, I was asked the other day why I became a priest. The question always confuses me because the answer is so deeply personal. And after 24 years of being a priest, I am surprised that the question even comes up. Not many married people get asked 24 years after their wedding day why they married their spouses (unless the questioner wants to insult that person’s spouse). Yet, the essence of being a priest is so public a character and so unfamiliar to our everyday lives that people can ask with all sincerity why someone would choose such a vocation. The life of a religious or a priest evokes far more than simple curiosity from others; dedication to a religious calling entices people to consider their own relationship with God.

     Every calling to religious life is unique and individual, so my “call” to the priesthood is not the same as Father John’s or Father Sam’s. And since far more people are called to religious life than are willing to accept this vocation, it is fair to say that many of you were also called at one time or another to consider a religious vocation. The question really is not “Why I became a priest,” but rather, “How do YOU respond to God’s call?” As I mentioned in last week’s article, my journey to priesthood included many obstacles. With no great “sign” from heaven like being saved miraculously or having a vision, the only reason I have for being a priest is my dedication to God’s Word and the profound love which God’s Word proclaims to each of us. Of course, I knew that I could respond to God’s love in any number of ways, but only one way seemed satisfying: the priesthood. I often hear people speak of feeling called to a religious vocation, but they are afraid of the sacrifice involved. Father Bill Goedert said on my first day in the seminary, “Live in your hopes, not in your fears.” Now that Pope Benedict has reminded us of the power of hope, I can only pray that all of you can explain your vocation by saying, “Christ is my hope.”

Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ,

Adobe® Version Fifth Sunday of Easter

20 April 2008