May 18th, A note from Fr. Scott

A note from Fr. Scott  

          Last Sunday was a picture perfect Mother’s day.  Weather-wise, I mean.  Many years on Mother’s Day the weather is less than cooperative, but that wasn’t the case this past Sunday.  It was pleasantly beautiful; a perfect day to be outdoors.

          So what did I do?

          Well, I spent time with my mother at my brother and sister-in-law’s house.  Inside.  Watching golf.  I’m not really a golf fanatic by any means, but certain tournaments carry more prestige than others; those I watch when I can.  (The Tournament Players Champion, which took place last week, is one of those tournaments.) 

It’s similar to the millions of people who watch the Super Bowl, but that’s the only football game they watch all year, or the millions who watch the Kentucky Derby, but that’s the only horse race they watch all year.

          Martin Kaymer and Jordan Spieth started the day tied, but as the holes went by, Mr. Spieth faltered and Mr. Kaymer took a 4 shot lead heading into the homestretch.  He looked to be in a groove that would easily lead to victory.  And then it happened.  The horn blew, indicating the approach of dangerous weather.  Play got suspended for well over an hour. 

By the time they resumed play, Mr. Kaymer had lost his groove and began to play much more ordinary.  He lost a couple of strokes; Jim Furyk’s clubhouse lead looked like it might get him the win.  As I watched the last part, I couldn’t help but wonder what Mr. Kaymer was thinking or would think if he lost.  Would he blame the weather for his collapse?  Would he blame God for the change of fortune?   

I thought those things because I think that that’s how I would have reacted.  An unexpected interruption changed things.  I would have claimed “It’s not fair!  I would have won if things played out as they should have!”  (“As they should”?  Who determines the way things “should” be?)

In truth, many things in life get interrupted.  That means we have to change our plans, perhaps not accomplishing what we set out to do.  Our original goal doesn’t get met.  Some of us (many of us) don’t like to have to adjust to interruptions or unplanned happenings.  Maybe we don’t like it because it’s a reminder we aren’t in control.  The unexpected and the unplanned messes up our plans for the day (sometimes even for our lives).  

But if we think about it, aren’t interruptions more the rule than the exception?  Not many of my days go exactly as planned.  And why should they?  I very much believe that God uses those unexpected interruptions to teach us something.  We want to do such and such, but maybe God wants us to do something else.  Every interruption is actually an opportunity.  Maybe God wants to teach us something (patience perhaps?) or maybe God wants to use us to be of service in the life of someone else.  Being too “planned” can block us from responding to an opportunity God wants to give us.

A golfer may whine about the delay caused by weather, but a good golfer knows unexpected things might happen and learns to adjust.  (By the way, Mr. Kaymer did hold on for a one-shot victory.)  A Catholic Christian may whine about the challenge of unexpected happenings, but a good Catholic Christian expects the unexpected and learns to adjust by realizing the unexpected happening is a God-given opportunity for something good (self-growth or service to another).

It’s all in how we look at it.  We might perceive interruptions as annoyances, but in reality they are more often than not opportunities.

Have a blessed week . . .  and if interruptions occur, make the best of them!   

May 4th, A note from Fr. Scott

A note from Fr. Scott  

          It’s that time of year again.  No, I don’t mean the Easter season (although it is that);   I mean allergy season.

          A number of years ago, I went for allergy testing.  I had had sinus issues for a long time and my doctor suggested I get tested.  So I dutifully went and acted as a pin cushion as multiple pins were inserted into my arms (each of the 4 inserts was a six-pack) in order to test for some common allergies.

          When my arms were surveyed after an appropriate timeframe, it was discovered that  I was allergic to many things (including dust, some trees, some field grasses, chicken and cats).  “See how there’s a raised bump on your arm here?” taught the nurse.  Frankly, I couldn’t see or even feel a raised bump most of the time, but she was sure it showed I had an allergic reaction to many things. 

                And who knows what else?  I was only tested for 24 common allergies—there must be hundreds more, probably thousands more that are possible.

          These many years later, I still have sinus issues at times (despite daily medication), but I can honestly say that it all tends to be mild.  (I eat chicken a lot and breathe outside a lot during tree and grass season and have no major problems.)  I’m grateful for that.  Others are not so fortunate.

          When I look at the world, I’m in awe at how diverse people are, at how diverse the world is.  God created every single person as a unique individual; the journey we take through life is unique—no two people have the exact same journey, although there are similarities.  There are thousands of different plants, thousands of different insects, thousands of different animals (any to which one could be allergic).  All created for a purpose, even if we’re not quite sure what that purpose is.  (Mosquitos have never seemed like a good idea to me, but there they are.  God knows best!)

          Even within the Church, there is great diversity.  Disciples of Jesus the Christ are both male and female, both rich and poor, both young and old, both traditional and progressive.  Diversity is not an absence of unity—we are united in Christ Jesus the Lord, gifted with the Holy Spirit, in spite of our many differences.  There is room for all under the wide umbrella we call the Church.

          Unfortunately, we are not always as tolerant of one another as we could be.  Often that’s because we think everyone ought to see things the same way we do (the correct way, of course!), but, alas, they do not.  Sometimes we think unity means uniformity; it doesn’t.  “Unity in diversity” is a reality.  Let me use the example of prayer.

          Not everyone prefers to pray in the same way.  Some people like the Rosary or the Stations of the Cross or the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.  Others enjoy most the Mass or the Liturgy of the Hours (let me point out that the Mass isn’t just another form of prayer; it’s a vital part of the life of every Catholic, although some seem to gain greater benefits out of it than do others).  Some like to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament, others in the quiet of their homes (those would probably be homes without children).  Some like to read Scripture and meditate on it, while others like to just quietly be present to the Lord, no words needed.  Others use Spiritual Reading to help them pray.  All are valid ways to pray, keeping us connected with God.  Unity in diversity marks the way of the disciple of Jesus, not unity in uniformity—although even that is fine at times.

          If God wanted us all to be the same, would God have created such a diverse world?  No one ought to be allergic to diversity!        

          Have a blessed week . . .

April 27th, A note from Fr. Scott

A note from Fr. Scott  

          A short while ago, I was driving down a fairly well-trafficked street when I noticed the cars ahead of me begin to slow down and then come to a stop.  It soon became evident that a dog was wandering around in the middle of the road, weaving in between cars.  All the drivers carefully inched forward when they could.  The dog appeared confused, although did seem to be headed north in a round-about way.

          After I was safely past the dog, I checked my rearview mirror and saw a pick-up truck had pulled over, the occupants had disembarked, and the dog seemed to know them (or was just extremely friendly).  Maybe the dog had fallen out of the back of the pick-up and belonged to the pick-up family, and was momentarily confused by all the traffic.  But the aimless wandering brought back memories of First Penance we had just celebrated a few weeks ago.

            The children that came to celebrate that wonderful sacrament of God’s forgiving love did not wander aimlessly at all.  They speed-walked to the priests—they must have been taught not to run in church, but they certainly walked faster than normal.  Every child I saw did that.  It was almost as if they were hurrying to receive God’s mercy.  They couldn’t wait!

          Maybe the children understand some things that adults don’t, or that adults seem to have forgotten.  God’s mercy is amazingly abundant, overflowing, and inexhaustible!  There’s nothing God won’t forgive as long as we ask and we’re sorry.  Nothing!  Many people, however, don’t seem to grasp that.  “God could never forgive me for the things I’ve done,” seems to be a common belief—not a correct belief, but a common one.

          I imagine that’s been a human problem for many centuries, maybe always.  That’s why the Church introduced Divine Mercy Sunday, always the Sunday after Easter.  Pope John Paul II was Pope at the time and while he noted that the Church has always preached God’s mercy, it appeared that present times needed a renewed emphasis on God’s mercy due to the world’s so-called “progress”, which has created many more occasions for sin.  (Just think “internet” or “human cloning”.)

          And now this Divine Mercy weekend, Pope John Paul will be canonized along with Pope John XXIII.  (They will now be known as St. John Paul II and St. John XXIII.)  It is fitting that the two become saints on Divine Mercy Sunday, for Pope John XXIII also emphasized God’s mercy.  He will always be known as the Pope who convened the Second Vatican Council, calling for the Church to clarify its relationship with the surrounding world.  John XXIII recognized that the world often saw the Church as emphasizing punishment rather than the “medicine of God’s mercy”.  Some of us might remember growing up with the image of God as “punishing judge” rather than “loving parent”.  I admit I did.  Today I have trouble believing that God wants anyone to be afraid of Him!  (How often did Jesus say “Do not be afraid!”?)

          While we must never be taught that “anything goes”, when we do sin we not only have a God Who forgives us, but also a God Who gifts us with the grace to resist temptation in the future.

          Have a blessed week . . .

April 20th, A note from Fr. Scott

A note from Fr. Scott  

          “He is Risen!”

          “Alleluia, Alleluia!”

          Or the more common “Happy Easter!”

          Greetings all for this celebration marking the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.  We can all go back to eating candy or chocolate or whatever else we gave up for Lent.  We can turn in (and stop saving) the coins and dollars for Operation Rice Bowl or any other worthy cause we targeted through the Lenten portion of the Lent-Easter-Pentecost season.  We can relax and go back to our normal routine before it was interrupted by extra prayers or Masses or Stations of the Cross.  We can have our fill of meat on Fridays without the guilt.

          Or maybe not.

           Easter promises us eternal life—Jesus was raised; we’ve been baptized into Christ Jesus; we share in Christ’s resurrection; eternal happiness is ours.  That’s the simplified version of how it works.

However, it’s not so simple. 

Being baptized into Christ Jesus means we are called to imitate Jesus in life.  No, we are not called to be crucified and we’re not called to work miracles that seem to defy nature, but we are called to love God with our whole being, love our neighbor as we love ourselves, forgive seventy times seven times (always), turn the other cheek, and help those in need.  (There’s more—Jesus did a lot of teaching.)

The point is that we must be Christ-centered all year long, not just during Lent.  That doesn’t mean we don’t have our share of celebration and fun—Jesus went to a lot of dinners and parties and the Easter portion of the Lent-Easter-Pentecost season is 50 days—but his words and actions always reflected His relationship with His Father.  Our words and actions must be a reflection of our relationship with Jesus.  That’s not such an easy task in our world of today, when people prefer to focus on short-term (earthly) pleasure rather than on long-term (eternal) happiness.  The search for earthly pleasure is a self-centered endeavor; the search for eternal happiness is a God-centered and other-people-centered endeavor.

Those disciplines of Lent are apropos all year long because they help us focus on God (prayer) and others (almsgiving) by reminding us (through fasting) that most of our desires are wants and not needs.  (We survive very well without fulfilling our wants.)  While the nature of Lent helps us focus on those disciplines, there’s no reason why we can’t focus on them at other times throughout the year.  In fact, maybe we have a need to practice those disciplines throughout the year, because they assist us greatly in living a life centered in Christ.

And that’s really what it means to be a Catholic Christian. 

Easter reminds us that our ultimate goal in life is a long-term goal: eternal happiness.  It doesn’t happen when we center ourselves in ourselves; it happens when we center ourselves in Christ Jesus and His command to love God with our whole being and our neighbor as ourselves.                                                

          Have a Blessed and Happy Easter season .  .  . 

Youth Ministry Status Report.

Youth Ministry Status Report.

Hello everyone!  Hope you are all keeping warm and blessed in this cold wintery season.  I wanted to write to the parish community with updates on the ministry, reflections, and some practical steps I think we could take to move forward.  Viva l’alto!

Where we’re at now.

Progress with youth ministry has been slow-going. There’s been a lot of good foundational work with the middle school and young adult ministry, however high school ministry has continued to lag behind.  As a ministry we're lucky to get six students at a meeting.  More importantly, at mass we see very low attendance and participation within this age group.

I find this discouraging.  After much brainstorming, prayer, planning with volunteers, and networking with other professionals in the area, what exactly is the problem?  How can we practically move forward?  Simply hoping for students, youth, young adults to return does not work.  There must be something we can do to create a sustainable ministry and move it forward.

The problem.

The first issue could be that the ministry is new.  I'm new, volunteers are new, and we're trying a new comprehensive approach set forth by our conference of Catholic Bishops.  Sometimes with programs trying to “break new ground” it takes some time before it catches on.

The second issue would be an area-wide/cultural devaluation of spirituality and God.  There are many good people who love God, want a relationship, but don’t go to Church.  They don’t want a community to be apart of or have been hurt by the community and don’t want to return.  There are also people who are committed but when a schedule conflict arises, the first thing to drop is Church and God.  This is especially true with extra-curriculars, and society makes it worse by penalizing the student or family when they do miss a practice or rehearsal.

The third issue revolves around I don’t feel we as a Church system/organization are doing enough to reach students and effectively include them in all areas of Church life.  We’re not intentionally leaving them out, but are we doing enough to draw them in and help them feel welcome?  Especially with young adults.

Hope and the way forward.

Looking at Elmira and the 2010 US Census Data we can get a quick snapshot of the demographics of our area.  36.9% of Elmira are age 25 and under.  The next largest segment, 29.7%, are those aged 25+.  The number of students on the parish database grades 6-12 is over 900 students.  Wow!  You might not believe it, but the data is there…I would encourage you to fact check this.  This means is that there is alot of hope and potential in this city!  Now is the time to ready ourselves spiritually and personally, and get involved in the work of rebuilding our Catholic culture.  We’re all in this together.

So what can we do?

First, we need those who are coming to church to be a visible presence of their Catholic faith in the world.  We are all called to share the Gospel and it’s not enough to simply live it.  We have to live and explain our faith.  In any healthy relationship there is communication and action.  Let’s live and talk about our faith!

Second, we have to do everything with excellence and make everything beautiful: from catechetical programs, liturgical & music ministries.  When people come to mass especially for the first time, if they can leave with a “wow that was beautiful” experience they will be more likely to return.  Let’s focus on the beauty of our faith!

Third, we need to encourage and promote relationship building intergenerationally within our communities.  When new people or teens come to mass, let’s make a point to say hello and step outside ourselves to connect with new people in our community.  Empowered by the Eucharist, anxiety will decrease and our communities will come together.  Let’s say hello to new people!

Fourth, we need to use the new media and connect to people where they connect.   It would be really helpful for our Catholic cause to use Facebook, Twitter, and an up-to-date website to pass along information.  Encourage your parish staff to do so.  Let’s not all become Facebook friends (although we could!), but let’s each witness our faith online and offline. 

Finally, and this is very heartfelt, we need those who have never lectored, altar served, been an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion to give it a try and be involved.  The age bracket I’m speaking to is those aged 25-50.  Your visible witness by serving alongside those who are already serving will be a powerful witness.  As a parish staff we have to make sure there is room for you, but consider this your formal invitation.  Let’s get involved together!  Talk to a staff person today or this week!

You the people are the hope for the Catholic Church in Elmira.   This is a wonderful time to be Catholic and the work of the Church is exciting and beautiful.  May we all have the opportunity to experience it!  

Mary Mother of the Church, pray for us as we rebuild!

-Ryan