Still One Priest
What was to be five weeks without a parochial vicar has turned into sixteen. I thank Fr. Rogers Byambassa and Msgr. Doug Hennessy (86 years old!) for their help. We will do our best to cover Masses while Fr. Rogers is in Uganda December 15 to January 22. Be not surprised if a few daily Masses are cancelled. Fr. John Twinomujuni will cover one of the Saturday vigil Masses.
The norm in the Catholic Church is “one parish, one pastor.” A pastor having the care of two or three parishes is permitted by the Church on a temporary basis. When a bishop gives a pastor multiple parishes, his time is necessarily split between congregations. Saint Padre Pio could bilocate; I cannot. Jesus told us, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few; so ask the Master of the harvest to send out laborers for His harvest.” Pray that more men answer God’s invitation to become a priest. Too many Catholics take for granted the priests we do have – let us be thankful that these men DID answer God’s call and have persevered. The priest that took my place as pastor of Holy Family in Danville, Fr. Peter Pilon, is presently in ICU, and that parish will reduce from seven Masses per week to two.
We know that the Catholic Church in our Diocese of Peoria has been “thinning out”: practicing Catholics have thinned out, money has thinned out, the number of priests is thinned out. Old schedules cannot be covered. Fewer resources mean necessary downsizing. My mother’s situation offers an analogy: she was a dairy farm girl with much energy and a great work ethic, but the years have caught up with her, and she can’t move like she used to. “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,” Jesus told His apostles in the Garden of Gethsemane. Or, as the song says, “The old gray mare, she ain’t what she used to be, many long years ago.” There’s no shame in getting old; most of us get there. We thank God for the past, for the memories, for the people we’ve encountered, but we must not regress and stagnate in “what used to be.” We call a spade a spade, and with “evangelical hope” (per Pope Francis), we move forward with a smaller and purified Catholic Church. It’s OK to be small, strong and faithful. God reduced Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 300 and won the battle against Midan and Amalek (read Judges 7). God has always utilized the faithful, fervent few to win His battles.