Homily Saturday after Epiphany (Jn. 3:22-30) “God Works in Many Ways”
Homily Saturday after Epiphany (Jn. 3:22-30) “God Works in Many Ways”
John the Baptist is always held up as an example of humility in the Gospel. He was not your typical human being. Most of us are wired for competition with one another. It is that way with church leaders. Most us want to have our congregation be the largest and most enthusiastic.
A story was told once of a minister named Dr. Smith who led a church that had been around for a long time. The church was stable, had enough money, the members were involved in a variety of ministers. Dr. Smith was a good man. He was known to give thoughtful sermons and he was a diligent pastor. He was coming to the end of his ministry after long years of service.
Several years before the minister was about to retire a new church opened in his community. A young dynamic preacher led the congregation. The new church had wonderful music, the latest technology, offered an engaging Bible study and had a religious education program that got young people enthused.
The new church reached out to those who had no church, but often, the church that had just started attracted member from already existing congregations. All the pastors in town resented their members being stolen.
Dr. Smith noticed his congregation gradually beginning to shrink. More and more people were attracted to the young preacher and his nascent church. One Sunday Dr. Smith looked up after the opening hymn of the service. Only a couple dozen people were present. Dr. Smith asked the question, “Where is everyone?” After an embarrassed silence, a voice said, “They are all at the new church in town.” Dr. Smith closed his liturgical book and said, “Let’s go down and worship there today. Maybe we have something to learn from them.” He led his congregants down the street to worship at the contemporary church that day.
Reflection Questions:
- Would I have been like Dr. Smith? What feelings would I have had?
- Is a large congregation in a church a sign of a ministry being blessed by God? What are the signs that a church is faithful to Jesus?
Dear Parishioners,
One of the costs of remodeling the Lee Center so that it can be a living space for the priests was the cost of painting. Don Lewis and a crew of painters volunteered to paint the new space. This is saving the parish a lot of money. It is a big undertaking, but it will be finished next week. We will be putting in drop ceilings and new carpeting soon.
The ice and snow we have right now have breached the flat roof of the old rectory. There is nowhere for the water to go. The drains are frozen in the roof. We have many leaks. We are reminded why we need to leave our present living quarters. Shortly after we move, we will remove the present rectory so we can continue moving forward with the new church addition. We hope to be in our new living space by March 1st.
Thank you to all the volunteers who are working so hard to make this happen.
May Our Lady and All the Angels and Saints watch over you today.
Fr. Mark