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Go Out to All the World and Spread the Good News!

Associate Pastor's Column
Sunday, April 8, 2007

           On Easter Sunday, I perhaps would rather have discussed the teachings regarding the resurrection from the dead, to fill you heart, Gentle Reader, with the strength and hope that comes from God in these troubled days for the Church and the world. But other recent events force my hand to go in another direction.

            You are most certainly aware of the so-called “priest crisis.” It is usually referred to in the context of numbers, that is, how many priests per parish. Cardinal Maida has publicized these statistics in recent publications such as the Together in Faith plan, Mileposts on the Journey, etc., all of which can be found on the Archdiocesan website. As of 2005, the Archdiocese reported that we had 317 priests, and 306 parishes; and that in 2015, they project 243 priests. We have about 1.5m Catholics in the Archdiocese, so this creates a serious imbalance of priests to laity, and most of us priests barely scratch the surface – after hard work and long nights – of your pastoral needs. Not mentioning the fact that many parishes don’t (and won’t) have one priest, let alone the two or three which every good parish should have. The good news is that in the world round, the numbers of priests and seminarians has only increased year after year without exception since 1985. So the problem is a local one. And we have to carry the burden of it.

            The Cardinal avails himself of an “Assignment Board,” consisting of the auxiliary bishops and a group of priests, maybe ten or so, and headed by Msgr. John Zenz, who meet every spring to study the question of which priests in which parishes. They have a hard task, especially in the light of what I just mentioned.

            This same Msgr. Zenz informed me, via voice mail, just a few days ago, that it pleases the Cardinal that I take on a new assignment as of July 1, 2007. I will be the Associate Pastor, together with the pastor Fr. Paul Czernota, of a new cluster about to form on the same date: Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Emmet, Sacred Heart Parish in Yale, and Sacred Heart Mission in Brown City, all a good hour and a half north of here.

            When a priest is ordained, he takes a vow of obedience to his Ordinary (the diocesan bishop) and to his successors. Therefore, I see this as an expression of God’s will, and I imitate Jesus Christ’s loving submission to the Father. Indeed, I have often been saddened by priests who are riddled with ambitions, eager to climb what they perceive as ladders, and make their own lives miserable because they love certain creatures – even parishes or Diocesan posts – more than their Creator. I have refused to go down that route, and have always put holy obedience as the surest way to holiness and a firm rock of peace. It was under obedience, for example, by which I happily collaborated in our pastor’s plan to split the cluster work between us, I attending to St. Joseph’s and he attending to the other two parishes. Even when some got involved with gossip that I was somehow neglecting the two parishes, I was at peace in my obedience, for my attention and efforts went along the rails not of neglect but of diligent and loving obedience. For those who embrace obedience, there is peace and understanding, joy and strength; for those who don’t, there is only bitterness and gossip, resentment and suspicion. So let us all, with a great spirit of charity towards God and neighbor, embrace the spirit of obedience like true children of God, and confront the challenges of this change with responsibility, initiative, hard work and kindness towards all. I’m sure this is what would be most pleasing to God.

            I mention this because some parishioners will miss me more, others less, some may be happy I’m moving on, and others worried about what this means for the future of this cluster. So let us all be at peace and rejoice, for the Lord is risen!

           Gentle Reader, you are in a cluster who needs your help. The ways you need to help are these, and in this order: first, prayer and sacrifice. If God does not build the house, the Psalm says, in vain do the laborers work. You will not bear fruit unless your labor is full of prayer and personal sacrifice. Second, volunteer yourself. Make yourself and your skills available, and even tithe. Third, Satan is always at work striving to cause division, especially through slander, backbiting, intrigue, criticism, cliques, and other such things offensive to charity. He does this everywhere, so no one group is exempt from such temptations, not even this Detroit cluster. Resist these temptations, speak well about one another, be patient with each others’ defects, correct one another kindly and accept correction humbly, and forget yourselves. If Jesus died on the cross for you, why can’t you for your neighbor.

            As the next couple months play out, we will all need to help make the necessary adjustments in so many ways. The St. Joseph parishioners may be wondering, for example, about the Latin and German Masses, or my spiritual directees might be wondering what all this means for them. No one knows yet, we have to work that all out, and we will in time. In all things, count on my humble prayers for you at the altar; and be at peace, obey the Church, trust in God, and love your neighbor as yourself.

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Announcement at end of Easter Masses (April 7-8, 2007):

            You all know that in the Archdiocese of Detroit, we suffer from the particular problem of too few priests. Lest anyone feel discouragement, let me remind us all that the numbers of both priests and seminarians have increased in the world year after year without exception since 1985, so the problem is a local one. This is a problem, because we are a priestly Church, we need priests, and those who propose sociological solutions such as women priests and married priests completely do not understand the priesthood, the Church and the covenant. We need Catholic priests, as Christ gave the priesthood to us.

            In spring, the Assignment Board of the Archdiocese of Detroit meets in a series of sessions to discuss questions such as priests, retirements, the newly ordained, parish clustering, and other related questions. They have met already twice this spring. As a result, Msgr. Zenz, the moderator of the curia of our diocese, left a message on my voice mail informing me of the following fact, that I have been named the Pastoral Associate of a new cluster about to form in northern St. Clair County, including the parishes of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Emmet, Sacred Heart Parish in Yale, and Sacred Heart Mission in Brown City.

            You all surely have realized that Fr. Mark Borkowski, our pastor, several months ago divided the work in this cluster in such a way that I would take most of the work at St. Joseph, and he the other two parishes. Fr. Mark will resume the day-to-day labor of your pastoral care. And I only encourage you to generously give of your time and virtue to this parish, with great trust in the power of St. Joseph’s prayer. Search first for the Kingdom of God, and everything else will be given you.

            The new assignment takes affect on July 1 of this year. Until then, I will continue to offer my priestly services to you, with the hope of helping you grow in holiness in this life, and attaining eternal life hereafter.

            Please stand for the blessing.