Bulletin Reflection - St Jude Catholic Church - 27 October 2019

     As I write this bulletin reflection for this weekend, as I have just come back from a meeting in Greenwood with those priests working in that area with the Redemptorist priests in Hispanic ministry, I think about all I have been involved with as a priest these past couple of weeks.  I have had masses not only in our parish of St Jude in both Spanish and English, but also masses at Millsaps College, at St Joseph High School, at Whitfield state hospital, and at the state prison here in Pearl.  I have planned weddings and have had baptisms, but I have also had funerals, not only for the Catholic faithful, but also have gone to Greenville for funeral for a retired priest of our Diocese as well.  I have also gone to meetings about many different things in my role as a vicar general in our Diocese, and have looked into things that affect our own parish, such as repairing the stained glass windows in our church and figuring out how we can make more space for all of our classes and meetings.  Yes, our lives are busy and full of some many different things.  We all have joyful occasions, but we also have times that are sad, painful, and stressful.  In the busy reality of our lives, we can reflect upon our Gospel message for this Sunday.  We can approach the busy reality of our lives and our faith like the Pharisee in a selfish and self-centered way, wanting to lift ourselves up to God in a prideful and self-righteous way that can not get beyond our ego and our own needs.  Or we can be like the tax collector who comes to God in his humility, aware of his faults and his sinfulness, but also aware of the hope that he is offered in God’s love and mercy.  The Pharisee has a lot of good things going on in his life, but because he is so centered on himself, he does not open himself to all the ways that God’s love and mercy can change him and transform him. 

      This weekend we close out the Month of Respect Life and the Extraordinary Missionary Month.  But, the call to respect life and to be missionary spirit remains there for us throughout the year.  Let us ask God for a humble spirit that is open to all the possibilities he offers us in our faith.  Let us give thanks to God for the opportunity we have to journey with him as his disciples.