Dear Friends in Christ,
I just want to share a few experiences and encounters that I have had over the past couple of weeks.
A couple of weeks ago, a young family in the parish invited me to their home for dinner. After dinner, several other families joined us for a fire in the yard and some singing. It was very beautiful to be with them, to witness their friendship, and to see so many young children thoroughly enjoying themselves. It was such a joy to hear these couples speak about their lives, their friendship, and their faith. The fact that the meal was delicious certainly didn’t hurt either!
On Friday September 29th, the Noon Day Mass was offered as the Month’s Mind for Father Mario. The church was crowded and Fr. Sijo preached a very beautiful homily. At that Mass, I not only was filled with gratitude for the priesthood of Fr. Mario, but also for that of Fr. Sijo. I was also grateful for the Daily Mass community.
About a week ago, I met with one of the members of the parish’s St. Vincent DePaul Society. I am very grateful that the Society at St. Patrick Parish is so active and committed. Their work ensures that as a Catholic parish, we never forget the needs of the poor among us.
Last Saturday, Fr. Frank and I were hearing confessions from 3:00-3:45 pm. When I left the confessional at 3:45 because I had to say the 4 pm Mass, there were still about 15-20 people waiting! It was such a wonderful thing to see! Fr. Frank was in the confessional for another hour! When I saw him later in the day, he said to me, “It was so wonderful!” God is so good. If I have to have a problem as a pastor, too many people coming to confession is the one I want! To me there is something very beautiful about the whole “waiting in line” for confession thing. It’s a good reminder that we are all in this together. (Though I admit that when I am waiting in line and someone “takes too long,” I get impatient.) It’s good for us to be in that line and to remember that we all need mercy. We all need grace.
The last personal experience I want to share with you is about living in the rectory. There is a lot of joy, laughter, and fraternity in our home. For me, priests living a joyful, prayerful, and fraternal life together is good not only for the priests personally, but also for the people whom we serve. Priestly fraternity in the rectory overflows into our ministry.
In addition to these personal experiences of smaller communities, I also think of the smaller communities who meet regularly in the parish; communities like the group for the separated and divorced, the bereavement group, the RCIA (those preparing to enter into the Catholic Church), the Prayer Shawl group, and various groups that come together to pray. Small communities are so important to living the Catholic life.
My hope is to continue to promote and to encourage such smaller communities within the larger St. Patrick Community. I think a key for living the Catholic life is friendship. In a particular way, I want to provide opportunities for young people and young families to experience the joy that comes from healthy and normal Catholic friendship. The first step is for us all to be a little more intentional in living out our Catholic friendships and in bearing witness to others the joy that we receive when we encounter Christ in one another. In any event, that is what I hoped to do here in this bulletin column today.
Your Brother in Christ,
Fr. David Barnes