Pastor’s Letter & September 26 Bulletin

Pastor’s Letter & September 26 Bulletin

24 Sep 2021 | Posted by: chadmin

The September bulletin is now available online.

Dear friend,

The readings this weekend address the sin of jealousy. Everyone has fallen victim to jealousy at some point in life. With the many aspects of human life in this world, there are so many things that can invoke jealousy. The Scripture readings give us two examples of jealousy that one might not ordinarily expect when thinking about religious people. The Book of Numbers records how Joshua wants Moses to stop other people from exhibiting prophetic gifts. Moses responds with the great line, “are you jealous for my sake.” It is not Moses who gets jealous; but, the jealousy of Joshua does make one think about Divine gifts and how they are dispensed. Likewise in the Gospel reading, the Apostles become aware that outsiders to their group are invoking the name of Jesus without being in their company. Immediately they want the Lord to stop their action because they are not part of their team. Essentially jealousy often revolves around perceived power. What people identify as valuable information, authority, importance, honor, prestige, recognition or affirmation can invoke jealousy. The surprising aspect of the jealousy in the Scriptures this weekend is that it comes from religious figures who should know better. The Apostles want to stop others from doing good because they are focused on the attention received by the one doing the good, and not the good itself.

The response of Jesus to the jealousy of the Apostles is almost startling. Not only does Jesus not want us to become jealous of Divine gifts at work in the life of anyone else, Jesus also wants us to seriously ponder and understand everything that we teach to others. The majority of learning happens through imitation and modeling, while of course reading what others have produced before us. In this Gospel reading, Jesus essentially demands that we take responsibility for what we teach others. “It would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea,” is the response Jesus gives to one who leads another away from Jesus. Essentially Jesus is comparing physical death with spiritual death. It would be better for you to be dead than to take on the responsibility of what you taught another to do. In God’s eyes, we are responsible for what others do with the information we give them. If we lie to someone and they act on that lie by hurting another, both the offender and the one who taught how to offend are responsible in God’s eyes. This is why only God judges because only God can see to this depth.  With this understanding, the Lord hopes we take seriously what we say, do, teach, and model to the world as another’s future sin might be the result of my current sin. It is this thought that should help us be patient when tempted to anger, humble when tempted to show off, and generous with the successes of others. May the Lord guide this growth in each of us.

In a few weeks I will share the St. Philomena annual reports submitted to the Diocese. Every parish in the United States gives an annual financial and pastoral report to its diocese. The financial reports are kept in the diocese while the pastoral reports are compiled into national numbers. While everything can’t be about numbers, tracking financials as well as baptisms, confirmations, weddings, funerals and registered households does give insight into the relative health of a parish or diocese. May our individual lives continue to help our parish community grow.

God bless,

Father David