First Reading of today's liturgyIn today's world the example of Lydia might well bring to mind how each of us serves or can serve our local church that exists in our parishes. There are so many different ways that we can provide avenues for ourselves and others to encounter our God in our parish life. Lydia, with her household, after hearing Paul and his friends preaching the Good News, wanted to be baptized. After the baptism, Lydia made her home available to the itinerant preachers.
How can I open my heart to assist the Pastor fulfill his charge to be a good shepherd among and for his parish, your parish? There is no Pastor who can fulfill his duties without help from parishioners. There is so much more than finances that will make a parish become a home for followers of Jesus. Today's Pastors in almost every parish are charged with extraordinary burdens. He is expected to be a managerial wizard, a financial expert, a community organizer, the collaborator with a principal in running a school, a vibrant preacher, a comforting source to the troubled, the sick, the dying, and, oh yes, in the midst of all of this, your Pastor is supposed to be a man of prayer. He cannot do it alone. Those who help a Pastor may not realize it but their contribution of time, talent and treasure so often save a Pastor from major mistakes, embarrassments and failures as a man, as a priest, as a man of God. Lydia is a model of a vocation of service to the servant of God. Your Pastor is like most of us ... even though he may at times be a challenge. He can fail, he can err, he can sin ... like most of us. But, like Lydia, all of us, even a Pastor's brother priests, can be a support, a helper in his mission, his vocation. If through no other way than prayer, start offering a prayer or two each morning for the man who has been entrusted with the care of your parish. In time you will be so grateful that you took those few seconds to remember your Pastor and his associates, if he is fortunate enough to have them to assist him.
How can I open my heart to assist the Pastor fulfill his charge to be a good shepherd among and for his parish, your parish? There is no Pastor who can fulfill his duties without help from parishioners. There is so much more than finances that will make a parish become a home for followers of Jesus. Today's Pastors in almost every parish are charged with extraordinary burdens. He is expected to be a managerial wizard, a financial expert, a community organizer, the collaborator with a principal in running a school, a vibrant preacher, a comforting source to the troubled, the sick, the dying, and, oh yes, in the midst of all of this, your Pastor is supposed to be a man of prayer. He cannot do it alone. Those who help a Pastor may not realize it but their contribution of time, talent and treasure so often save a Pastor from major mistakes, embarrassments and failures as a man, as a priest, as a man of God. Lydia is a model of a vocation of service to the servant of God. Your Pastor is like most of us ... even though he may at times be a challenge. He can fail, he can err, he can sin ... like most of us. But, like Lydia, all of us, even a Pastor's brother priests, can be a support, a helper in his mission, his vocation. If through no other way than prayer, start offering a prayer or two each morning for the man who has been entrusted with the care of your parish. In time you will be so grateful that you took those few seconds to remember your Pastor and his associates, if he is fortunate enough to have them to assist him.
