Associate Pastor's Press--8th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Praise the Lord! "Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything." Saint Alberto Hurtado (1901-1952 Canonized on Oct. 23, 2005) What are we in love with? Who are we in love with? Imagine a Catholic church picnic concentrated not so much on making money, but focused on loving others into the Church. An event with the emphasis not on beer tents and raffles, but evangelization and fellowship. This weekend is meant for fun, but let us remember who we are in love with...Jesus Christ and His Church. Let us be reminded of the reason we gather...to bring the love that has captivated our hearts to other peoples hearts. Let us rediscover the love Christ has for us because as St. Paul says in this weekend's second reading, "The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us." (Romans 5) A special thanks to the funeral lunch volunteers and choirs for their graciousness in fulfilling the corpal works of mercy during our many funerals these past couple of weeks! Now and Forever!

Geese and Gofers--Pentecost 2007

Praise the Lord! What do gofers and geese have to do with Pentecost? Well, let me tell you! We all know the role of being a gofer. "Quinn, gofer the pliers for me will ya? Quinn, gofer the hammer for me will you?" Being the youngest of five children, I would often be the one to always gofer something. I'd gofer this and gofer that and everything in between! The worst part of being the foger was having to go into our garage and try to find exactly what my dad was looking for. Now this was quit the task because he'd explain esactly wher eit woudl be in a complete mess! Having the role of gofer was a sense of mission. I was sent forth by my siblings or my father to gofer something and it inevitably become a wild goose chase! The worst was when my brother or sister would lure me inot the mission of being sent by coaxing me inot it saying, "I'll time ya!" Being a gofer meant being on a wild goose chase for something illusive or hard to find, finding it, and having the excitment of bringing it back!
I wonder who the gofer was among the apostles. Who was the one assigned to go on a wild goose chase? Someone had to be choosen and sent forth, to go on a mission in order to supply the apostles. Imagine St. Peter in the room with all the other disciples. "I need some one to get some cheap wine and a loaf of bread. Who's going to to it? Matthias!" Matthias looks down at his sandels puts his hands in his cloak and kicks the dirt floor in front of him. St. Peter asks again. No response. "I'll time ya!" Matthias looks up with a big grin, bolts out the door and on the way out St. Peter shouts, "Make sure its unleavened!"
There they were on the eve of Pentecost wondering what was next and huddled together in fear. They were afraid of being sent and were immobilized by fear. Jesus appears to them and says in a calm voice, "Peace be with you." Stunned, they stare back at Jesus wondering if this is for real. Again, "Peace be with you." Imagine, Jesus saying these words over again. Of all the things he could have said. These were the same guys who betrayed him, abandoned him in the hour of need. They were the (friends) who fled with fear in Jesus' darkest hour. He could have said, "Thanks for nothing you guys!" Or, "Where did you go?" Better yet, "You left me hangin'!" But Jesus says, "Peace be with you." He disarms their fear and isolation. Jesus compassionately gives the courage to face the fear of the unknown through his unconditional love for them and for all of us. How often are we huddled in fear like those early disciples and in need to hear those words from Jesus to disarm the barriers of our lives. How we need Jesus to say to us, "Peace be with you," that we may be released of whatever fear dominates our lives.
he offers the disciples, Jesus offers us, the chance to leave behind apathy and paralysis of our guilt to be sent forth.
Jesus then goes on to say, "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." Jesus makes gofers out of all the apostles. The Church is born and they are commissioned to be gofers on a wild goose chase and what a chase it was! They ended up all over the world! St. James ended up in Compestela on the edge of the world as they knew it in Western Spain. St. Thomas ended up in India and was martyred. St. Steven was stoned. St. Peter himself ended up in Rome crucified upside down. St. Paul was beheaded just outside of Rome. John Paul the Great was in Manila in 1995 with six million youth for World Youth Day. Just this past month, Benedict XVI was in Brazil. My wild goose chase as a gofer for Jesus began at Mundelein Seminary then went to Green Bay and now here! You see, Jesus sends us out as gofers. We must gofer eternal life with every ounce of energy we have. We must gofer others in reaching out and bringing the Good News not necessarily to the ends of the world, but to our family, friends, and parish community. We must be on the wild goose chase to bring others to Christ because we have been brought to him first!
Jesus then says, "Receive the Holy Spirit whose sins you forgive are forgiven them and whose sinds you retained are retained. Jesus understands that the only way one can be sent forth is by surrendering to God. Hence, he gives the apostles the power to forgive sins. We can only go forth as gofers on a wild goose chase when we convert. When we turn around from sin and turn to Jesus. He understands our predicament and gives us a way to move from it! Do we have teh courage to share the Good News with others? Have we allowed Jesus to say to us, "Peace be with you!" When we confess our sins, turn to Jesus, we are then open the great commmission of the that wild goose chase. To be Jesus' gofers. To bring others to Him! That is what Pentecost is all about. The courage to move from that room of fear in our lives, to be sent forth by Jesus because we have been converted and to bring the love of Christ to others. Are you ready this Pentecost? Hesitant? Looks like it! "I'll time ya!"
Now and Forever!