Greetings & prayers -
In the early Church, the time between the Ascension of the Lord and Pentecost Sunday was Novena time, a nine-day novena of waiting, anticipation, getting ready for Pentecost. While many people talk about Pentecost as the birth of the Church, the Church was born from the side of Christ on Calvary. I like to think of Pentecost as the Church going public. Pentecost has a special place for the Good Shepherd community, and the founding Pastor Monsignor Richard Steiger. His dream became a reality along with the founding fathers and mothers of the community.
As one gets older, one realizes that time goes faster. We are almost in June and closer to the first anniversary of re-opening our churches. Last year, we went from March to June without a gathering of our community, but in all that time Fr. Michal and I made sure we were always connected, through the virtual daily and Sunday Eucharist. The Eucharist is the heart of the faith, as God fed the Israelites in the desert, we fed the community through the great symbol of the washing of the feet, in our humble service.
While we have made progress in the last twelve months, we are still not back to “normality”, whatever that means. We seem to be caught between politics and safety. It is always good to be careful, and cautious, and be the ultimate team player. But we cannot be a prisoner of fear. I believe houses of worship have not been respected. We all have to ask ourselves, as we honestly reflect on the pandemic, where would we be without faith? I know that it is only my relationship with God that has kept me sane. I have not seen my family in two years, but our love has sustained us.
We are truly blessed to have so many people vaccinated, and all look forward to the day we don’t have to wear a mask and be safe, when we can physically see our family and friends again. It will take a long time for our country to recover, but we have a great deal of gratitude to those people who provided the vaccine, distributed it, the doctors, nurses and all first responders who put their lives on the line. The parents who became teachers overnight and our children for their patience and resilience. It is imperative going forward for all those who have had their lives disrupted, to seek professional help in dealing with lost time and momentous occasions in the life cycle, like graduations and other milestones. It has been a great joy to have worked with Fr. Michal since 2016, and I will miss him when he goes to Chatham. We worked very well together. Fr. Michal has brought great insight to our community, which he so unselfishly shared with us. We will miss his smile, warm personality, and when I hear him speak, I think of John Paul II, their voices are so similar.
As priests we are ordained for a diocese, not a parish and movement is always good. As parents, it is said we give our children roots and wings. Fr. Michal had strong roots from his parents and family and due to your unconditional love and support, Fr. Michal leaves Good Shepherd a stronger person and priest. The rock foundation that Jesus spoke about is lived in the relationship all of you had with him. I know from my own experience, that your first parish is vital to future ministry. I can still feel the love for my first parish, and I believe Fr. Michal will have the same experience. Life goes on, as we were reminded by the angel in last week’s reading, when they said to the disciples, “Why are you looking at the sky?”. We are called to preach the Gospel, live Pentecost, enjoy the fruits of the Spirit. Pentecost allows us all to reconnect ourselves to proclaiming the Good News, and to be good stewards of God’s gifts.
Peace, Fr. Tim