Reflecting on All These Things - June 12, 2011

As I write on this Monday afternoon I am thinking of Mary who after the event of Jesus’s birth is pictured “reflecting on all these things in her heart.” Somehow I feel I need to do more reflecting in my heart. These past weekends have been jam packed with events. And, since our church is rather small and our classes big, we have need for multiple ceremonies. I often wonder what people take away from First Communions, Confirmations, Graduation Masses, Anointing services, funeral liturgies, etc. More important perhaps is what do I as a priest, preside, leader take away from them. The Church is there to mark the essential moments and passages in human life (birth, graduations, weddings, sickness, deaths). Yet somehow I want these to be more than singular moments. I am thrilled when rituals lead to a more vibrant practice of faith. Where there is a carry over into the regular, ordinary flow of liturgical life. We have lots of people who have been sacramentalized, but how many have been evangelized? Just some thoughts on a Monday afternoon after yet another busy weekend.
Fr. Bob Hawkins