I feel as though I talk about the awesome week of saints at the end of September and beginning of October every year, but as we enter this new planning process in the archdiocese, it is more a propos than ever that we count on the wisdom, witness, and sanctity of the great saints whose feasts we celebrate in this timeframe to guide us. St. Jerome, the Archangels, Guardian Angels,
St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Francis of Assisi, and Our Lady of the Rosary are all looking on, praying, and interceding as we determine the path forward that will save the most souls.

While I’m not here to pick a favorite out of that murderer’s row of great saints, I think the example of St. Therese would serve us well as we process the draft of families of parishes that has just been released (which, as of this writing,
I still have not seen. Tomorrow is the big day!) and pray about how we can give our parishes, our spiritual homes, to the Lord, trusting that He will return our generosity in surrender. In her inability to commit immense sacrifices,
St. Therese spoke often of the need for and importance of surrendering small things to God as acts of love. “Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.”  There will be a great temptation in the coming days and months to lose one’s mind and close ourselves off in a shell of bitterness and anger. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good sulk. Sometimes I can persevere in them for months, if I really focus on it. That said, it’s not going
to get us anywhere. Complain about the archdiocese, the pastor, the staff, the planning, the weather, the parking lot, demographics, sudden shifts in wind, whatever. It doesn’t change the situation. Even worse, not only does it not change the situation, but it also probably makes us miss opportunities that are right in front of us.

Just to be clear from the outset of this process, I once again reiterate the fact that I am willing to sacrifice literally anything for the sake of the salvation of souls. The population of the nineteen counties of the archdiocese has grown in the last fifty years, but we have far fewer practicing Catholics. That terrible fact should not depress us; it should convict us. We are standing in the shoes of the Apostles, facing much the same long odds, as a small number of disciples in the midst of a world that either doesn’t know who Jesus is or misunderstands Him because He hasn’t been preached effectively to them. The Apostles were willing to give up everything, and they were successful because of it. If we are unwilling to make small sacrifices, we will never learn to make big ones. If we never make the big sacrifices, we will never find ourselves able to give everything for Christ. This week, let’s listen to St. Therese and start small, and trust that Our Lord is never to be outdone in generosity. Anything that we offer to Him freely will be repaid ten times over.
 
Prayers always, Fr. McC