This is a blog of homilies, reflections, and photos from a Roman Catholic priest serving in the Diocese of Jackson in the state of Mississippi. Currently, I am the pastor of Holy Savior in Clinton and Immaculate Conception in Raymond. I have served as Vicar General of the Diocese since July 2019. I also serve as Catholic chaplain in the federal prison in Yazoo City and the state prison in Pearl.
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Sometimes things are not what they seem
Since Easter Sunday, we priests have had a very hectic Easter season. Almost every week since Easter Sunday, from Friday to Sunday, I have had 8 to 10 masses, with many other things scattered in between. Last weekend, on Saturday, when my day had started at 7:30 am in the morning, after I had gotten up at 5:30 am, I found myself in a retreat at 11:30 pm trying desperately to stay awake. I priest who is in dire need of time off, I have not found that opportunity yet. For four of those weekends since Easter, I have driven 100 miles round trip to celebrate mass for a priest who is on vacation. On my way back from those trips, I even find time to visit someone who is sick. Yet, on one Sunday, when I prayed the opening prayer of the mass in Spanish, a man very angrily walked out of the church, threw his missal on its shelf, and exited the church, angry that I was celebrating a mass bilingually rather than having two separate masses in Spanish and in English. That was the welcome I got, barely having time to go to the bathroom or to get something to drink, rushing off after my mass in Tupelo to an hour drive to help out for a priest who is on vacation. Sometimes we need to try to understand and help out our brothers and sisters, even if everything is not to our liking. I wonder: What would Jesus want us to do?
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