Working For a Better Future

In my homily on Sunday I announced that I would be leaving St. Mary’s of the Lake and St. Benedict’s on June 30^th to become the Parochial Vicar (assisting priest) at St. Louis Church in Pittsford, NY.  It was only on Thursday that I received the official notification of the change but I knew it was probably coming for a couple of days. 

As I waited for the official notification, I was thinking about how to announce it so that people would understand why I would see this as a good change.  After all, some people might wonder how going from being in charge to being the assistant would be a good thing.  Others might wonder if I am running away.  I am grateful for the words the Holy Spirit gave me in my Sunday homily that I hope help people understand why I find hope for the future in this new assignment.  God’s timing of making the announcement of the change corresponding nicely with the first reading. 

Now, I would like to offer some further thoughts as to why I have hope that this will be a good change for me.  This past Wednesday, April 29^th, was the Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena.  The second reading for the Office of Readings (Liturgy of the Hours) came from St. Catherine’s dialogue “On Divine Providence” and began with the following paragraph. 

“Eternal God, eternal Trinity, you have made the blood of Christ so precious through his sharing in your divine nature. You are a mystery as deep as the sea; the more I search, the more I find, and the more I find the more I search for you. But I can never be satisfied; what I receive will ever leave me desiring more. When you fill my soul I have an even greater hunger, and I grow more famished for your light. I desire above all to see you, the true light, as you really are” (emphasis added). 

This writing by St. Catherine of Siena captures how I feel.  I love to learn more about our faith.  I love to grow in my personal relatiosnhip with Jesus.  As a priest, one of the ways I do this is to read spiritual writings and then share what I learn with others.  I believe this sharing stands at the forefront of how God calls me to serve as a priest. 

So, how does this fit with my present change in assignment? 

The devil knows what feeds me.  As I said in my Sunday homily, I am called to say Masses, hear confessions, and teach about our faith.  I grow some in reading about our faith.  I grow more when I share it with others.  The devil wants to hinder my spiritual growth and my sharing the faith with others.  The devil wants to set us up for failure.  First and foremost, he likes to lead us to outright sin.  He wants to get us to try to do things we are not able to so we feel like failures.  He also tries to lead us to things we are not supposed to do, including sin but sometimes it is not always sin.  It is just not what our Father wills for us.  Then, the devil wants to make us feel guilty about our sins and our failures. 

When that does not work, the devil tries to make us too busy.  He fills our lives with things that have some importance but are not what is truly most important or what God asks of us individually.  It might even be something good.  It just is not what God wants us to focus on.  

I think this is what the devil has done with me.  He has made me too busy with things of some importance.  The church has bills that have to be paid but it is not for me to do all of that.  (Thankfully, we have a great Business Manager and in February we hired a great new Finance Director).  We have to take care of our buildings but it is not where I am to focus my efforts.  God has given the gifts for that to others to serve on our Building and Grounds committee.  I used to be an engineer.  From my family background, I know how to fix some things but God did not call me to be a priest to fix buildings.  There are other administrative tasks I get caught up in.  As leader of the parish, I have a responsibility to be involved in these tasks but, because of my background, I get too caught up in the details and those details take too much of my time.  I also find myself lacking in calling forth the people who do have the right gifts. 

For the last two years, the position of Faith Formation Coordinator on our staff has been vacant.  I have been doing much of the work of this position.  One might suppose that because I enjoy teaching, I would enjoy working with the families and OCIA participants.  They would be right.  I feel more connected to both the families and the OCIA participants than ever before.  I do enjoy teaching them.  It is a good thing for me to do but it is not the same as other teaching I do.  When I teach these people, what I teach is important but it is largely based on things I already know.  That is fine.  It only becomes an issue for my own spiritual growth when the buildings, finance, family faith formation, etc, take up all of my time and I have little time for reading.  This is where I have found myself. 

When I was conversing with a friend on Sunday, she framed it for me in the context of Martha and Mary (see Luke 10:38-42).  Martha got caught up in the details and having earthly details as the most important.  This does not mean she should not have done the work to prepare the meal.  Those gathered needed to eat.  She just let the details of the meal take over while Mary focused on being present to Jesus.  Both are important.  Both are necessary to a point.  We find our vocation in life when we find the balance that God calls us each to.  It is a different balance for each person.  I can do the administration, building, and finance tasks of a priest leading a parish but it is not how I believe God is calling me to use my gifts. 

It is my hope and prayer that the new change in assignment will help me focus on what God calls me to do and that the Lord will lead Fr. Bob Ring as the new Parochial Administrator at St. Mary’s of the Lake and St. Benedict’s for the spiritual good of the people and for his spiritual good.   

I also pray that the parishioners of St. Mary’s of the Lake and St. Benedict’s that have the gifts that parish needs right now and are being called by God, hear God’s call and do their part to help.  I pray they do what God wants, not what they want. 

I also pray that the Holy Spirit leads our diocese to identify the priest that God is calling to take over the prison Masses I have been saying.  I ask that you join me in praying for each of these needs so that we might all do our part to fulfill God’s plan that leads us to a “future of hope” (see Jeremiah 29:11). 

Peace, 

Fr. Jeff