Today’s Reflection from Father Dave

Dear friends can you help me? I am stranded in London; my credit cards, currency, and passport were stolen, and I need to get home. Would you be so kind to send some financial help until I can get back to the United States and straighten things out?

Blessings, Fr. David Ghiorso

Many of us have received messages like this; our computers have been compromised, and some email addresses have been used to try and solicit funds. My staff and friends who received this message notified me and commented: “We knew it was not you by how you ended the note.” It seems that “blessings” was a dead giveaway the email wasn’t from me.

When I began these reflections almost three weeks ago it was to try and speak about my experiences of the presence of God during a very unique period of life. I wanted to focus on those wonderful virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love. This week has proven to be a challenge because a great deal of conversation has been about finances: how to keep the parishes of St. Matthias and St. Charles going as our revenue streams are but a trickle? Our preschool and K-8 programs continue but have their challenges as families are also in a state of limbo, with employment and incomes in question. I was being encouraged by our parishes’ Finance Councils to write or speak to our fiscal needs, yet I have felt uncomfortable to ask for help during these uncertain times.

So my morning walk was not as peaceful, and to top it off my new headlamp started to blink for some reason. It had been so dependable these last few weeks. Then as one would say, “the light bulb went on in my head.” I hadn’t put it in the charger since this all began almost 3 weeks ago, and the blinking was simply a reminder that it needs a charge. Sometimes the Lord gives me little nudges, and sometimes I think He uses a Mack truck to make His point when I am a little slow to comprehend.

On Sundays we build the ability to share our resources through the collection. It is not a payment for mass; it is an offering back to God from what we have received in life. I do appreciate those who have continued to support our parishes, and some by very unique and funny ways. So with this reflection, I do make an appeal to you, my friends, for assistance in this time, asking each to consider what you are able to give to your parish.

When times are difficult we make choices that reflect what we truly believe. We give in Faith that things will get better. We give in Hope that we come out of this time stronger and more the person God wants us to be. We give in Love for one another.

Blessings, The Wandering Padre

Father Dave

Today’s Reflection from Father Dave

The advantages of walking in the early morning darkness (disadvantages will be in another post): I get to test out a Christmas gift, a headlamp, and also I have the opportunity to see the sunrise, a welcome sight to each new day.

The headlamp gives just enough light for me not to trip over uneven surfaces and for others to see me, which is good for the Wandering Padre who does not use sidewalks. So I consider it a very good present. Using the lamp yesterday reminded me of a passage from Pope Francis in the encyclical Lumen Fidei:

Faith is not a light which scatters all our darkness, but a lamp which guides our steps in the night and suffices for the journey. To those who suffer, God does not provide arguments which explain everything; rather, his response is that of an accompanying presence, a history of goodness which touches every story of suffering and opens up a ray of light.

My headlamp can be placed on a brighter level, and it brings even more of my surroundings into view, but it does not remove the darkness. Which brings me to the other advantage of walking in the early morning hours, the sunrise. Gradually a light that does dispel the darkness begins to rise. So it is a sign of hope for a new day and new possibilities.

The Easter Vigil that we celebrate in just over a week from now, begins with the lighting of a single candle that leads us in a procession of hope. That light is passed from one person to another and the proclamation is sung: “Light of Christ.” Our response to this is simply, “Thanks be to God.”

So we live in faith; the sun will rise, and yes the darkness will be overcome. This entire Lenten season, and maybe what is going on around us, is built on faith and hope. We know that Easter will come; the Light will break into the world and overcome the darkness. God came to save His people.

These days when we are practicing “social distancing” it is a good time to practice “spiritual closeness,” walking with the Risen Son, who accompanies us even in the darkest of times. We are a people of faith; we hope for that time when we return to “normal.”

In Faith, Hope, and Love, Your Wandering Padre

Father Dave

Today’s Reflection from Father Dave

“Archbishop, when does this assignment start?” was the question I asked of Archbishop Levada 15 years ago. “April 1st,” came the reply to which I responded, “How appropriate that my tenure as pastor should begin on April Fools Day.” He concurred.

Sitting in my rectory office on this auspicious occasion I am struck by the fact that the only sounds coming from this vast estate are of the cement saw and jackhammer. The plan had been to repave the parking lot during the summer and try and work around the daily activity of the church. This “Shelter-in-Place” scenario presented another option. Do it now while there is no activity. Yes, let it be a sign of HOPE that eventually people will return, and life will continue. So it is music to my ears.

My musings therefore are easily distracted. This normally happens when power tools are involved, so today I leave you with another’s words, Karl Rahner. I once took a semester reading course on Rahner, so might as well use some of it. These words were inscribed on my ordination holy card, and I look to them often.

The priest is not an angel sent from heaven.

He is a man chosen from among men, a member of the Church, a Christian.

Remaining man and Christian, he begins to speak to you the Word of God.

This word is not his own, no, he comes to you because God has told him to proclaim God’s word.

Perhaps he has not entirely understood it himself. Perhaps he adulterates it.

But he believes, and despite his fears he knows that he must communicate God’s word to you.

For must not some of us say something about God, about eternal life, about the majesty of grace in our sanctified being;

Must not some one of us speak of sin, the judgement and mercy of God?

So my dear friends, pray for him, carry him so that he might be able to sustain others

By bringing to them the mystery of God’s love revealed in Christ Jesus.

I must say that these years have been “the best of times and the worst of times.” (apologies to Charles Dickens)

“Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” (Lou Gehrig)

WIth quotes from Rahner, Dickens, and Gehrig, there’s not much else to say except:

You are all part of Archbishop Levada’s April Fool’s Day joke.

In Faith, Hope, and Love,

Father Dave