Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Luke: 38-42) “Strength in Weakness”
Contemplation or Action. In the Gospel story, Mary is the role model for the contemplative life. Martha is role model for the active life. When we look at the life of a diocesan priest, we might say that it is more of an active life than a contemplative life. But the truth is it better be both. If our actions don’t lead to reflection then they won’t mean much. If our prayer doesn’t lead to concrete actions, it doesn’t mean much. All Christians are called to be people of prayer. All Christians are asked to be people who engage in charity. As a Christian, a priest is to be a model of prayer and action.
Many times, throughout my life, people have asked me why I wanted to be a priest? My family certainly had a great influence. All my extended family were Catholic. And they had a high regard for priests. Members of my family were farmers, housewives, factory workers. In other words, they were working class people. Of course, there was the priests we saw in the movies in the 1950’s. All of them were portrayed positively by actors like Spencer Tracy, Gregory Peck, Karl Malden, and Bing Crosby.
I was the only boy in my family. I had to entertain myself a lot. I would spend hot summer days playing in the yard having imaginary adventures. Or I would be doing the chores that my parents dreamed up whether that was mowing grass, working with my father on some remodeling project, or helping with gardening. I preferred to spend my time reading in a hammock under a shade tree. Children today escape the ups and downs of life on their electronic devices. I got away by reading. I found myself drawn into adventures created by others. I read everything from Mark Twain to Charles Dickens.
Reading influenced my choice of vocation. Two books shaped my view of priesthood. At home, we had all kinds of Catholic items. Wall rosaries, statues, you name it. My mother had a collection of religious books. I noticed a book entitled “Keys of the Kingdom” by A. J. Cronin written in 1941. The book was a work of fiction that told the life story of Francis Chisholm, a Catholic priest from Scotland. Francis was orphaned at age nine. His father, a Catholic and his mother, a Protestant, are killed as a result of a fight between Catholics and Protestants. Chisholm is adopted by an aunt who sends him to a seminary. The seminary staff questions his vocation. He is an independent thinker who asks provocative questions. Eventually, he is ordained. He has a difficult time in his first assignment. He won’t bow to the will of his pastor. He eventually is sent as a missionary to China. Fr. Chisholm refused to consider his religion superior to that of the Chinese. Francis respects their culture. He builds up a solid parish. Because of his dedication, he wins the admiration of the Chinese. After decades in China, he returns home. His best friend from seminary has become a bishop. The friend denigrates the work that Francis Chisholm has done. One priest is a success in the eyes of the world. The other isn’t but Francis has a pure heart. His ambition is to be a faithful servant. The “Keys of the Kingdom” impressed me greatly. I was struck by Chisholm’s open-mindedness, sensitivity, his desire to serve, not to be put on a pedestal. He is also comfortable with his humanity.
When I went into the seminary that is the type of priest I wanted to be. The second book was recommended to me by a spiritual directory. Fr. Geoffrey Gahn was my director when I was a deacon. He listened to me speak about to my vision of priesthood. One day he recommended I read a book by Graham Greene called “The Power and the Glory.” The book told the story of a priest running for his life during the Mexican Revolution. The Mexican government was persecuting the church. Priests were killed for exercising their ministry. The priest in the book drank too much. He used his priesthood when it benefitted him. He is weak, he is a coward. He questions the existence of God. Only in his final days, when he is arrested by the government, does he find courage. He dies in front of a firing squad. I didn’t relate to that book at that moment in my life. I wondered why Fr. Geoffrey wanted me to read it.
As I have lived my 40 years of priestly service, I have come to see why. I have my idealistic view of priesthood, but most often I fall short. I can’t achieve my ideal. I can’t perfect myself. I have struggled to accept the fact that the Christian message proclaims repeatedly that God loves everyone no matter what our faults and failings are. My faith is a gift. The graces I receive are unmerited gifts. It is nice to have ideals, but it is better still to live with a sense of God’s unconditional love. I am a child of God no matter what.
When I began my priestly service years ago, I had certain things that I thought I would never do like raising money and overseeing construction. God had other ideas. Life doesn’t often go according to plan. As I look around the church today, I see friends who are battling chronic disease. I see parents who have difficulty with children. I am aware of those who have lost spouses. Others struggle with broken relationships. The list of challenges we all face is manifold, but we come here to this Eucharistic table with trust. We are all part of Body of Christ. We inspire each other whether we know it or not. Little do we know whose lives we touch as we try to follow Jesus. We are the Martha’s and the Mary’s of today. We pray. We serve. Let us all rejoice and be glad on this special day that God calls us sons and daughters.
Reflection Questions:
What is one ideal I hold dear? Do I always live up to that ideal?
Does God forgive me when I don’t? Do failures define our life?
Dear Parishioners,
I would like to thank those who helped with the groundbreaking and with the celebration of my ordination anniversary. We had a small committee that helped put things together. Suzie Budde, Connie Morris, Sandy Madison and Pete Murray helped. I thank the social committee that put the reception together.
We tried to include many of the key people in the groundbreaking ceremony. It was hard to decide who should be given a shovel. Many parishioners have made great sacrifices to get us to the third phase of our capital campaign. We have been ambitious. We have set our sights high.
I had a parishioner share his thoughts with me about the building project. He said it is hard to know what the future holds. It is kind of scary. The question we need to ask is whether we play it safe or step out in faith. I heard a long-range planner say something that I will never forget. He said if your organization is in the same place today as you were a year ago, you have gone backwards.
We are trying to move forward. I thank all the parishioners who have helped. I encourage all those who are still hesitant to help us by donating to our TTT campaign so we will have as little debt as possible when the building is complete.
We will continue to ask St. Damian De Veuster to inspire our generosity and to pray for our efforts.
Fr. Mark