Where do I start?

I write this brief reflection at the beginning of my third day as Pastor of Stella Maris Parish. I know there is a great deal of hurt, pain and anger in the parish for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which is the difficulty of amalgamating four parishes into one and the bewilderment of so many at how the Church is dealing with the truth about the Residential School legacy. It doesn't take ecclesiastical authority to exercise moral leadership.

So, I was deeply moved yesterday as the Church remembered Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus, and the different ways in which Marth and Mary served Jesus that day of Jesus' visit. I know deeply that any of my Martha instincts to just do what needs to be done must be rooted in my Mary instincts, to simply sit and pray at the feet of Jesus, for I know that this entire effort is His, not mine.

And today, the second reading in the Office of Readings was from a letter written by Saint Ignatius of Antioch (I was ordained on his feast day - Oct 17th) to Saint Polycarp. Here is a rather lengthy but profoundly meaningful extract for me:

"Justify your episcopal dignity by your unceasing concern for the spiritual and temporal welfare of your flock; let unity, the greatest of all goods, be your preoccupation. Carry the burdens of all as the Lord carries yours; have patience with all in charity, as indeed you do. Give yourself to prayer continually, ask for wisdom greater than you now have, keep alert with an unflagging spirit. Speak to each person individually, following God's example; bear the infirmities of all, like a perfect athlete of God. The greater the toil the richer the reward.

If you love only you good disciples, you gain no merit; rather you must win over the more troublesome of them by kindness. The same salve does not heal all wounds...

Do not be overwhelmed by those who seem trustworthy and yet teach heresy. Remain firm, like the anvil under the hammer...and above all we must bear everything for God, that that he in turn may bear with us...Read the signs of the times. Look for him who is outside time, the eternal one, the unseen, who became visible for us; he cannot be touched and cannot suffer, yet he became subject to suffering and endured so much for our sake."

So, with these wise words, I prepare for the day, ever mindful of my need for God's grace every moment of every day

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