This past week, I have been going to the Carmelite monastery each morning to celebrate mass with them. My friendship with the Carmelite sisters has added so much to my life as a priest. I give thanks for them each day. I give thanks for their presence in South Jackson and in our Diocese, as a bright light shining in all that is going on in the world.
In the midst of my busy life as a priest, I have been getting ready for the last ZOOM session for the adult faith formation program I have on Thursday evenings. I have so enjoyed being a part of that group and discussing The Search videos. The last session is entitled “Why a Church?” The presenter of this video series, the dynamic Catholic evangelizer Chris Stefanick, sees the Church as the Body of Christ that helps us encounter the presence of God in our lives. The Church provides us authoritative teaching and interprets what Jesus left us, helping us apply Jesus’ teachings into our daily lives. Stefanick notes that we indeed can encounter Jesus as individuals in our daily lives and in our lives of prayer, but that is not enough. As disciples of Christ, we need the Church.
All of you know that in addition to serving at St Jude as pastor, I also serve in an administrative role in our Diocese as vicar general. I was alerted on Monday that the Vatican’s report on Cardinal McCarrick was going to be coming out on Tuesday. As a priest in the Church with a leadership role in our Diocese, that report really hit me hard. We in the Church need to do better. A lot of my role is trying to formulate rules and procedure and to enforce their implementation. You can imagine that in that role, I am not often the most popular person with a lot of the other priests. But that is what I am tasked to do by the Bishop and by the Diocese.
As we hear the Gospel the need for us to be prepared, the need for us to make use of the talents and gifts that God gives us, we approach the end of the liturgical year and the beginning of the holy season of Advent. May the Lord continue to bless us, lead us, and guide us as we continue on our challenging journey of faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment