14/07/20 15:37
From One Unknown to Another
The last few weeks at the parish have seen a gradual reopening and familiar faces coming back every week. That is certainly a blessing and a source of joy for all of us in ministry. It’s like seeing an old friend after a long time away. There’s so much to catch up on and so many stories to tell that there doesn’t seem to be enough time to tell them all.
Certainly when the churches closed at the beginning of the pandemic, there was a sense of the unknown. How long? Days? Weeks? Months? Then as we sat during our stay at home time, the question then became another unknown. When we did open, would everyone come back or would they still stay away? Well, it seems as the weeks have gone by, parish life is trudging along. It’s like a locomotive that is pulling hundreds of cars. It takes awhile to get going. And maybe we as ministers and as parishioners want things to move a little quicker.
But we have to rely on what is known. And that is Jesus is present with us through all of it. He’s there and maybe trying to teach us a lesson in patience and humility at the same time. So let’s focus on Him and maybe forget about the unknowns. After all by their very nature, they cannot be controlled. Let’s let Jesus be our guide along the way.
26/09/19 21:28
I have been thinking lately about the people we ministers in the Church minister to. There are certainly a wide variety of people and as a priest friend of mine put it, “that’s what makes ministry interesting.” But I often wonder if we are fighting a battle on two fronts and maybe we are being assaulted on two fronts. On one side, we have those who are not coming to church anymore- the unaffiliated is what we call them nowadays. They have faith but because of a variety of different reasons don’t choose to practice.They come around when a child needs to be baptized, a First Communion or Confirmation is scheduled, a son or daughter wants to get married, or a family member needs to be buried, (although that is becoming less and less too). We complain and lament the fact they aren’t in church. We try and devise programs and processes to get them to come, and we pray long and hard for their conversion.
Then on the other front, we have the enemy within. We have those within the Church that promote a certain ideology and political bent. These people, though passionate about their belief seek to destroy and correct everyone within the Church and outside the Church because they don’t adhere to their idea or thought.
So those of us who are trying to get more and more people to come through our doors and guide them ever so gingerly to re-connect with their faith or even connect with their faith for the first time, fight a battle to make that happen and at the same time see our efforts attacked and ridiculed.
I just think the example of Christ needs to be followed. Yes, Christ cleansed the temple of the idolators but he also welcomed and sat at table with sinners. In other words, He could stand up for what was right but also at the same time could be compassionate to the person who had yet to discover what right was. Sometimes we seek to be mini-Christs who want to perform a miracle and simply say a word, present an argument, or have someone touch our cloak and be converted. The fact is we are not Christ and to expect others to come to the faith in those manners is playing God and not letting Jesus do the work. So perhaps the way to go is to have people encounter Jesus in their everyday lives- to be in relationship with Him and then be in relationship with His Church.