Dear Parishioners,
I’d like to offer some thoughts on the very first line of this weekend’s first reading, from the scene of Moses and the burning bush: “Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian.”
This is rather interesting. For starters, Moses has the humility to work for his father-in-law. It’s not always easy to work for one’s parents, let alone in-laws. Moses does it because it’s the right thing to do. Whether this was a paying job or a chore he was doing as a favor, we’re not sure. What we do know is that Moses, who had been a prince in Egypt, is willing to surrender his own plans and perform a difficult task.
There are times in our lives when there is an opportunity to set aside our ego and agenda to do service for another. I think of children who take care of their elderly parents, perhaps suffering from dementia. It always moves me deeply when I get called out to administer the Anointing of the Sick and I find the adult children lovingly by the bedside of their mother or father. It’s not easy for them. They are like Moses, like Christ, in these moments. Their suffering parent is the burning bush.
Many of us want to serve God, want to be a saint. We wonder if we need to give away more money, spend more time in prayer, volunteer more frequently at the food pantry, teach and evangelize more frequently. Perhaps. But I bet your way of sainthood is right before your eyes. I bet it’s spending some time with or doing something for a loved one.
What else is interesting is that Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, is a priest of Midian. Awkward…and for two reasons. One, having your father-in-law as a minister can’t be easy and, two, not just any minister, but a minister of Midian. The Midianites were enemies of Israel. In fact, when the Israelites finally return to the promised land, thanks to Moses, one of Moses’ successors, Gideon, will battle and defeat the Midianites to solidify their hold on the territory.
Now we see Moses not only putting aside his ego to do the right thing, we also see him putting aside his ideological preferences. I wonder if our Lord had Moses in mind when he said “Love your enemies.”
Our society today could take a page out of Moses’ book. We hear stories, for example, of family members who won’t talk to other family members because they voted for a certain candidate. Moses didn’t let politics get in the way of love. Hopefully we don’t either. Perhaps one of our Lenten disciplines this week could be to love and serve “the priest of Midian” in our lives, whoever that might be.
No one will ever know about your sacrifices, but trust that, like Moses’, they will have a significant impact in the economy of grace.
+
As I mentioned last week, we welcome this weekend for our Lenten Almsgiving Project Fr. Victor Ingalls and Fr. Patrick Arensberg from Mobile, Alabama. Their African-American community has many needs and very few resources, so our support will be of tremendous help. Our work with Catholic Extension Society has been significant over the years (we’ve even earned an award because of it), from helping parishes and communities all across the United States, from the northwest United States to Puerto Rico, and now the south. Thank you for your generosity and welcome of Fr. Victor and Fr. Pat.
We will have Stations of the Cross on Friday, March 28th at 7 p.m. in the upper church. They will be led this week by the Apostolate of Women. Save the date for our next Fish Fry: Friday, April 11th.
The parish is offering two upcoming Lenten prayer-music services. On Thursday, March 27th at 6 p.m. in the Holy Family Chapel will be a contemporary Lenten music concert. Thank you to Marcia and Don Morman for the music they will be offering. Then, on Tuesday, April 8th at 7:30 p.m. in the upper church we will have a Taize prayer service. Thank you to our regular Sunday Mass choir for this music. We hope you can join us for these spiritual activities.
Our construction project on replacing the church chiller continues. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the old chiller (original to the new church, dating back to 1967…thank you, Steve, for the info) has been removed.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. James Wallace
Comments