Father Michael's Column

The Gospel reading at Mass last Wednesday related how Jesus returned to his own part of the country, back to Nazareth. Unfortunately, the local people tended to dismiss him because, well, they thought they KNEW him; he grew up there, after all. They knew his close relatives! There is a similar account in all three of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 13:54-58, Mark 6:1-6, and Luke 4:14 ff.) Mark’s account of this episode has a most poignant conclusion: when the townspeople said “Where did he get all this?” the comment is added: “they found him too much for them.” The Scriptures then go on to say that Jesus “could work no miracle there, so much did their lack of faith distress him.” 

Wow. They sure missed out—I guess because they didn’t think that God could be doing anything extraordinary in something (or in this case, someone) so familiar. 

Let’s not be too hard on them, though, because I’m afraid sometimes we do the same thing! And in the process we tend to frustrate God’s plan for our lives. Sometimes we are just TOO familiar with things—and even the members of our families—to recognize the power of God at work. For example, how many children take their parents for granted, as nothing special, and are a little surprised when a friend comes over and remarks “what great parents you’ve got!” Or when the teenage boy invites a guy from his team for dinner, who whispers to him, “Your sister is sure pretty!” (MY sister?!) The examples go on and on within our families. 

But how about if someone tells you that God is doing something extraordinary at St. William Parish? (MY parish?!) Sometimes our lack of faith, our lack of vision, can frustrate God’s plan for our parish! But in fact, God most certainly is doing amazing things here, and I want everyone to be part of it! We are changing our culture from just “maintaining” a parish, to becoming a Mission-oriented community of joyful disciples. But only people of faith will allow God to change them. Let’s not let a lack of faith distress Jesus so much that it will keep him from working miracles in our midst! We’re already seeing amazing things happening! There are people, especially young people, that are being touched by the Lord and are being drawn to seek Him out. They want something we have, and we are here to accompany them on their journey of discovery!

 Another area that can become so familiar, so ordinary, that we no longer appreciate it, is the Eucharist. At Mass, God can speak prophetically through the scriptures and through the preaching—unless, of course, we don’t expect anything special because it’s “just another Sunday Mass” and we’ve been doing it our whole lives. It’s so “familiar”. The Eucharistic Prayer, including the Consecration, can become “just another moment” in an hour-long service. I remember back when Deacon Richard Smith, who had just been ordained, joined me for the very first time at Mass. (I had been ordained about twenty years at that time.) As he held up the chalice at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, he started shaking so badly that I was afraid the Precious Blood would slosh onto the altar. I actually reached out to grab it with my hand to steady it. Then I thought to myself, “He must have been overwhelmed with what was happening.” And then I also thought to myself, “Have I become so familiar with celebrating Mass for twenty years—and has it become so ordinary—that I have forgotten that at that moment I am holding infinity in my hands?” 

How about when we come up to receive Holy Communion? Has it become so familiar and ordinary that we do it casually, just casually? We should be AWE-filled! St. Augustine (4^th century) used to tell his people that when receiving Communion they should put one hand over the other to “make a throne—you are about to receive a King!” And whenever we pass in front of the tabernacle outside of Mass, it is customary that we genuflect or bow. But I wonder if we sometimes do it too perfunctorily. Maybe we should actually pause, to remember that Jesus is truly present there. And for the same reason, I sometimes wonder if we haven’t gotten a little too casual in our conversations after Mass while still in the church. 

Practical suggestion about this latter point: If someone starts a casual conversation with you after Mass, try answering them in a quiet voice, or maybe even point to someone who’s still praying, and suggest “let’s go into the vestibule so we don’t disturb them.” 

In any event, I certainly don’t want us to be like the people of Nazareth who found Jesus just too ordinary, too familiar, and as a result, he could work no miracle there, “so much did their lack of faith distress him.” We need to be people of deep faith, expecting Jesus to do miracles in our midst—and then perhaps the biggest miracle of all will be to see our Parish transformed into “a band of joyful missionary disciples!” 

In Jesus,
Fr. Michael



P.S. This weekend, of course, is Commitment Weekend of our Committed to Christ—Giving Gratefully  campaign. I hope you’ve had the chance to reflect prayerfully about what the Lord is asking you to do, and that you’ve made your decision about the level of support you’re committing to the Parish. 

Please pray that our efforts to build a strong foundation for our parish’s mission will be very successful. Pray also that those members of our Parish that have become lax in their practice of the Faith will be drawn back to share the Eucharist with us! If we pray with “expectant faith”, we can be confident that the Lord will continue to work miracles in our community.