Message from our Pastor
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 19, 2025
As we begin this new year and have now completed the first week of Ordinary Time on the liturgical calendar, I want to offer you the vision we have been working on for the last six months in reference to our new Five-Year Plan. Several people have asked about the board in the Gathering Area that says, “Be A Part of The Journey” and what it signifies for us as a parish. I see the next five years as a journey into our Faith. I hope to explain in the next few paragraphs what this vision is for the Journey.
The banner placed by the main glass doors as you walk into the church is a particular path that was traveled many times by St. John of The Cross who lived from 1542-1591. This path you see on the board above the words, “Be A Part of The Journey” is the path John would take from the main church in Segovia, Spain to his hermitage where he would find himself in seclusion to pray. The path was only about a half mile in length.
I walked this path back in 2019. It is a beautiful place. What I noticed was the rather tall retaining wall on the right with very little support on the other side of the path. There were these thin, slender trees on the other side that had this dominant presence about them as they were casting their shadows onto the path.
The shadows on the path reminded me of the shadow side of our life. The places we struggle with and the areas where we need to grow in our faith. The path itself is somewhat rough and dusty. I remember kicking up the dirt from the path as I was walking on it. The desert is often a place that we describe our prayer when we cannot sense God’s presence. However, faith tells us he is there and that in this relationship with God it is ultimately about giving of our time to him no matter what the consolation we might feel. Prayer is always an act of faith simply by giving God our time. The retaining wall is there to preserve the path just like on our path into this five-year journey, we can hopefully sense God’s hand guiding, nourishing, and protecting us on the way. I can only imagine John of the Cross, who is one of the great mystics of the Church and a man of deep prayer, felt as he was walking to his hermitage to spend time
The other side of the path with no retaining wall reminds me that on my own account, I can walk away from it all and try to do this life by myself without any kind of outside influence. I have learned that I am not capable of just walking away from my faith life in the Church, I would be missing too much. God has much to offer in the Word and Sacraments, that I can find no where else on the earth. It also means that this work we do in the Church is not about “Me.” It is a constant challenge to my spiritual growth.
Once John of The Cross arrived at his hermitage, he was there alone to give himself completely to God. The desire for holiness and to be a saint were engrained into his heart, mind, and spirit. What comes out of the quest for seeking holiness is a truly humble heart. This type of humility sustains us in times of joy and sorrow. We know we are not in control and that we do not have answers for every situation in life. Prayer at its deepest level humbly places those moments into God’s hands and faith tells us he is present.
The ultimate vision for the next five years is that we can journey together to seek the path of striving for more growth in our relationship with Jesus Christ. I hope and pray that we can all have a more personal encounter with him. Out of that relationship if it is authentic and real will be lived out by a sense of service. In the church today and leading into the future years, the Church will be calling on more people to serve as witnesses and to speak a testimony to their faith.
I believe that is the challenge of our day. We do not just attend Mass, but my hope is that Mass attends to our hearts in such a way that we will want to share our faith with others and be of service to those in need. I have already been working with our Parish Staff, Parish Council, and Finance Council giving them opportunities to grow through a small group book study and large group collective meetings. We will be adding more people to this endeavor this coming year. I hope to share more of this vision with you at Mass in the very near future.
Prayers to you and your family,
