January 30-31. 2010
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jeremiah 1:4-19 First Corinthians 12:31-13:13 Luke 4:21-30
It would be nice if we could always just say and do nice and pleasant things to each other….but that simply is not reality. Reality, as the Haiti earthquake has demonstrated, can be a harsh splash of icy water on our sweet sensitivities. Assorted dispatches and transmissions from that disaster-plagued island have spoken of the needs for ‘triage’, the determination of who can be saved…and who must be left to die, who gets medical aid…and who does not…for the simple reason that there is only so much to go around. To us who live in a fairyland world of everybody always getting whatever they want or need, the notion of someone making determinations about who lives or dies can be downright repugnant…as normal as it actually is in most disaster scenarios. Using a much simpler and far more domestic image, most parents must discipline and guide their children, sometimes using removal of privileges or harsh words/actions so as to mold and properly form their young minds and consciences…even if the kids don’t always appreciate or like it! This weekend in the Gospel selection from Luke we hear Jesus using pretty harsh language toward those who sought to dismiss him as merely being ‘the carpenter’s son’. His language so upset them that Scripture says the crowd tried to throw Jesus off a cliff and kill him! Wow….talk about a town-hall meeting gone awry! While probably not risking being thrown off a precipice, the task of presenting the annual Pastoral Services Appeal is no less a daunting responsibility. While it would be nice to sit back and enjoy our surroundings without having to worry about how they came into existence, the truth is that everything we enjoy each weekend, everything we take pride in sharing with our families and friends…needs to be paid for out of OUR pockets! What! You mean life is not FREE!?!?! Sorry to be the bearer of harsh news….but much like each of us has mortgage or rental payments, car payments and assorted bills, the parish also has a mortgage…and we pay it ($55,000) each and every month….primarily through the generosity of our parishioners responding to our Pastoral Services Appeal effort. Most good things in life come about through sacrifice, determination and great effort. This is true of any goals to which we individually set our minds/hearts and it is equally true of our communal effort as a parish family to finish our Parish Campus with the eventual construction of our Permanent Church. In order to even dream of building the Church, we must first continue to pay off our Grand Hall loans. Granted, there is nothing glamorous or exciting about simply paying down loans….and it gets harder and harder to keep our enthusiasm fresh the further we get from everything being new and exciting. Thus, the hard task is to continually reawaken within each member of our Corpus Christi family a shared investment, a shared responsibility, to finish what we have begun…even if it is as mundane as paying off loans….so that we can move on to something far more exciting….building our permanent Church, the ‘Prayer of Our Family’. While it is tempting to dream that ‘somebody else’ will take care of things for us….that is a fantasy of which we are not worthy. This is OUR home, this is OUR parish, eventually we will build the ‘prayer of OUR family’ which will be the permanent home to OUR plaintive and furtive prayers to God….and it is only right and proper that we OURSELVES continue to bring about all that to where our dreams lead…yes, even if it means once again shouldering the responsibility for committing to a monthly financial pledge via the Pastoral Services Appeal. Thanks for opening your hearts and minds to the printed words that have been sent to you and the ones spoken within your hearing today. Thanks as well for opening your wallets and checkbooks so that the ‘Prayer of Our Family’ will expeditiously rise….even if we have to still finish paying for what we have already built!
Thank you for joining with our Corpus Christi family this weekend as we once again share the responsibilities of moving our family forward and seeking to finish the construction of our parish campus. If you are not prepared to make a pledge this weekend (redeemable over the next 10 months), please take a pledge envelope home with you and return it next week or via the US mail to our parish offices. Bulletins await you with news of upcoming events, including free flu shots next week (as supplies last), our Valentine’s Weekend Food Fair and of course the approach of Lent. As always, even when difficult news is shared (as in requesting your hard earned money), remember, you are loved. FKB
