Last weekend I had
the pleasure of visiting my family in St. Louis. While there, I was able to
preside at Mass and preach at the parish where I grew up, Our Lady of Sorrows
(OLS) in south St. Louis. While it was great to celebrate Mass there again, I
was saddened to know that OLS Grade School will be closing at the end of this
school year. I attended nine years there, kindergarten through 8th grade, as
did my dad, my two sisters, and all three of my brothers. So my family has a
long history with this Catholic grade school. And it was a really good school!
But changing times and changing
economics have now forced the unhappy outcome of the closing of the school. It
struggled valiantly for a long time. The same forces that have forced the
closure of many other parish Catholic Schools in St. Louis have finally caught
up with OLS School. Catholic Schools in St. Louis are an endangered species.
Nothing manmade
lasts forever. Not even churches, parishes, and schools. The Gospel and the
Church will go on, but not necessarily as we remember them. Sometimes, holding
on to certain forms of the past expressions of the Gospel can impede the future
growth of the Gospel, but it is always hard to discern when this is so, and
even harder to let go.
When auxiliary
bishops are ordained, they are made bishop of some place that is no longer an
Episcopal See. For example, Bishop Daniel Garcia, the Auxiliary bishop of
Austin, is Titular Bishop of Capsus, somewhere in Africa. But there is now no
Christian community there. There are many places that at one time had thriving
Christian communities and bishops, and now have only titular bishops, and often
are nothing but ruins and sand. At one time the Gospel was vibrant there. But
now history has moved on and they are no longer local churches with a bishop.
Of the places
where I have been assigned as a Paulist priest, the first was St. Nicholas
Church in North Pole, Alaska, and is no longer served by the Paulists. It was a
special place for me, where I learned so much more about being a priest than I
ever did in the seminary, and I was saddened and disappointed when the Paulists
pulled out of Alaska. But I also understood that a missionary order needs to be
flexible and free to move. Similarly, my first assignment as a pastor, to St.
Andrew’s Parish in Clemson, South Carolina, with the mission churches of Holy
Cross in Pickens and St. Francis, in Walhalla, is no longer served by the
Paulists. It was a wonderful place to begin as a pastor, with so many committed
people willing to put up with my mistakes and teach me about what a pastor
really does and how to do it. I was very much saddened when the Paulists
decided to leave South Carolina, as with North Pole, as part of my heart was
still there. But again, I know that we have no firm hold on anything here, but
only in heaven.
And of course, all
of us have lost loved ones, who we miss and hope to see again.
Life is about change, and that means letting go. It is
necessary, but it is just sad to let go of a community such as a school or
parish that has been an important part of your life. However, the Gospel
continues. It grows and thrives. Our call is not to hold onto the past, but to continue
to make it vibrant and alive, and to proclaim the Good News, the Gospel.
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