Pastor's Letter -- October 17, 2021

This weekend’s Second Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews suggests that it is Jesus’ human experience of suffering that puts him in full solidarity with the rest of humanity, and especially qualifies him as mediator. Because Jesus felt hunger, he is able to relate to our struggle with our own hunger or the hunger of our world; because Jesus felt rejection, especially from his own people, he is able to relate with us when we cry to him about how rejected, unloved, and unwanted we feel. We certainly have a God who does not stand aloof or apart from our experiences; he enters into the very depth of our mess and becomes one like us in everything, though without sin. There was a saying that stuck with me when I was studying to become a healthcare chaplain: “you do not heal what you do not feel.” This saying seems to suggest that unless one has felt hurt one couldn’t really understand how another who is hurting feels.

The saying of St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:4 is instructive: “He (God) comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” According to St. Paul, we help and support others who are vulnerable because we ourselves experience similar vulnerabilities. The recognition that we are as fragile, broken, fallen, sinful, in need of a Savior, like others, should help us to understand with others and be kind to one another. At his Incarnation, our Lord Jesus entered into solidarity with the whole of humanity. When he took on human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, he, who is God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, takes on what was originally alien to him (human nature) in order to elevate this assumed nature to the status of divinity and to make us by adoption what we were not by nature (children of God). To be in solidarity with us means that Jesus experienced all that we experience on a daily basis. He was tested in every way as we are, but did not sin. He therefore offers us an example of how to be in solidarity with our brothers and sisters. My heart turns to the many brothers and sisters of ours who go to bed hungry, who have no beds to go to at the end of the day, who have no food on their plates, or are unsure of where the next meal would come from, our brothers and sisters who have to flee their homelands because of war, bad government or in search for a meaningful life. To be in solidarity with them is to acknowledge our common humanity, advocate for the protection and promotion of their dignity, and do whatever we can to ameliorate their condition.

To be in solidarity with our brothers and sisters is to journey together with them. Solidarity is necessary for efficient evangelization. We must be willing to stop, listen and encounter people where they are. Like some of you, I sometimes get too busy to stop to listen or encounter someone who needs my attention. We focus too much on our work or business that we do not notice the needs of our brothers and sisters. One of the things I have learned from my ministry, as priest, is that people are hurting, and just want to talk to someone. I know they do not expect me to have answers to all their questions, but they appreciate that they are important enough for me to stop and listen. We must be willing to encounter the person right in front of us, suspending whatever other agenda we might have to listen to that brother or sister of ours. This is Authentic Accompaniment, one of our parish’s Core Values. As important as projects might be, as urgent as it might seem to fulfill our tasks or be faithful to our job descriptions, the human person in front of us is even more important. We must prioritize the person over any other concern, and do all we can to respect and promote their dignity.

Last Sunday Pope Francis declared the opening of a Synod on Synodality for the universal church. This consultation and spiritual discernment process will last from 2021-2023. The Holy Father calls the church to a new way of encountering and discernment. At the heart of the synod is a recognition that the church must listen anew to the Holy Spirit. We are being invited to be a listening church. This is essential to authentic encounter and discernment of what the Holy Spirit is doing in our church, and what the Lord is calling us to in this age and time. Let us all be open to learn to listen in a new way. Come Holy Spirit!

May Jesus bless you, and may Our Lady protect you! With blessings from my heart,