Browsing The Seed

Growth through Pruning

In the midst of the plan to restructure the archdiocese, we may wonder if this is really going to happen, or if it is more of an optional task, so I want to reemphasize something I think has perhaps been unclear: Going through the Beacons of Light process according to the parameters we have been given is not an optional reality. The whole archdiocese is doing this at the direction of our archbishop, who as pastor of the local Church of Cincinnati has the authority and the responsibility to direct this archdiocese according to what he discerns, by God's grace, is needed for our time as Catholics. While we may not see our immediate neighbors move at the same pace we move, everyone has been asked to undergo this process. We may also see that there are some (pastors and parishioners alike) who refuse, who disobey, or who simply ignore what Archbishop Schnurr is asking of us; human freedom allows for such choices. But it is a maxim of the spiritual life that obedience is the surest way to holiness, even when it means "you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go" (John 21:18). 

We have to be a people of hope, we have to trust, and we need to obey the legitimate authority of Archbishop Schnurr; without our local bishop, we would not have access to the Sacramental Life of the Church, so we need him and are grateful that he provides for our salvation by ordaining priests to assist him in tending the flock entrusted to his care. We should also remember that he is nearing retirement, which means he could have kicked this can down the road and coasted through his last years in active ministry. The fact that he is undertaking what will likely be an incredibly difficult task in his final years as archbishop should prove to us that he really and truly believes this is the right thing to do in order to ensure that the Church in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati has a strong future. We don't necessarily understand why it should happen to us, given the many good things that are going on in our cluster, but this is where faith is critical, and we have strong faith here, which gives me hope. But we must remember that the Lord says "Everyone to whom much is given, of him will much be required; and of him to whom men commit much they will demand the more" (Luke 12:48). There is so much potential to bear fruit in our cluster, but we have to take Jesus at His word and trust that when He prunes, He prunes for growth: "and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit" (John 15:2). We cannot see things clearly right now, but we know if we lean on our faith and obey the Lord's will in love, even as He prunes, He will make good on His end of the bargain and bear abundant fruit in us.

While this is going to be a challenge and we may be feeling somewhat homeless in these moments of transition, we will always have the things necessary for our salvation within arm's reach: the Church, the Eucharist, Confession, prayer - in short, we will always have the Lord, and I've always found in life that regardless of what I'm dealing with or where I am or where I've been sent, if I have the Eucharist, then I have the Lord – I am safe, and I am home. As we begin Holy Week, let us remain with Christ in His Passion as He will remain with us in ours. He prayed to His Father on the night before He was to suffer: "That they may all be one" (John 17:21). His dying wish was that His disciples live forever in the communion of love that has existed for all eternity in God. Perhaps one way He is asking us to honor His Passion is by striving more fervently to express this communion of love amongst ourselves, to no longer see one another as "the other" but as brothers and sisters in Christ. I believe that this plan to come together as one parish family will only serve to strengthen our sense of unity with one another, and root us more deeply in the unifying love of Christ, which conquers all things and fosters true communion among all those who belong to Him. And there is always resurrection on the other side of the cross. May God bless you in the week ahead, and may Mother Mary lead you more deeply into the Sacred and Merciful Heart of Jesus. I remain,

Affectionately yours in Christ,

Fr. Hess

 

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