The Pastor's Pen
May 25, 2025
As we continue to live the Pascal Mystery these 50 days of Easter, the task of the believer is to unpack Easter’s meaning, so as to discern the grace and call that is ours. The following is from a daily email from the Center for Action and Contemplation, written by Fr. Richard Rohr.
Death into Life
“Death is not only physical dying. Death also means going to the full depths of things, hitting the bottom, going beyond where we’re in control. In that sense, we all go through many deaths in our lives, tipping points when we have to ask, “What am I going to do?” Many people turn bitter, look for someone to blame, and close down. Their “death” is indeed death for them because there is no room for growth after that. But when we go into the full depths and death of anything—even, ironically, the depths of our own sin—we can come out the other side transformed, more alive, more open, more forgiving of ourselves and others. And when we come out the other side, we know that we’ve been led there. We’re not holding on; we’re being held by a larger force, by a larger source that is not our own. That’s what it means to be saved! It means that we’ve walked through the mystery of transformation.
The miracle of it all—if we are to speak of miracles—is that God has found the most ingenious way to transform the human soul. God uses the very thing that would normally destroy us—the tragic, the sorrowful, the painful, the unjust deaths that lead us all to the bottom of our lives—to transform us. There it is, in one sentence. Are we prepared to trust that?
Jesus’ death and resurrection is a statement of how reality works all the time and everywhere. He teaches us that there’s a different way to live with our pain, our sadness, and our suffering. We can say, “Woe is me,” and feel sorry for ourselves, or we can say, “God is even in this.” None of us crosses over this gap from death to new life by our own effort, our own merit, our own purity, or our own perfection. Each of us—from pope to president, from princess to peasant—is carried across by unearned grace. Worthiness is never the ticket, only deep desire. With that desire the tomb is always, finally empty, as Mary Magdalene discovered on Easter morning. Death cannot win. We’re finally indestructible when we recognize that the thing which could destroy us is the very thing that could enlighten us.
Friends, the Easter feast is a reminder to all of us to open our eyes and our ears and to witness what is happening all around us, all the time, everywhere. God’s one and only job description is to turn death into life. That’s what God does with every new springtime, every new life, every new season, every new anything. God is the one who always turns death into life, and no one who trusts in this God will ever be put to shame (Psalm 25:3).”
------
Of school picnics and graduations and completions...
It has been a busy few weeks – completion and graduation ceremonies for our kindergarten and 8th grade classes at the Blessed Teresa and Sacred Heart campuses of our Sacred Heart parish schools. First Communions.
Confirmations. 8th grade mystery trips. Hiring and staffing decisions. End of the school year Masses. It is a fun time around all of our campuses before the “somewhat” less busy schedule of summertime settles in.
-----
As we come up to the ‘second anniversary’ of our combined Sacred Heart Parish Community, I realize that we have come very far from those first days. And that there is still so much to be done. I am grateful to all of you for the work you have done – for the open hearts and welcoming spirit, for the willingness to be stretched as we accommodate all the newness, and for your willingness to roll up your sleeves and get to work. The days have been long, but the years have been short. And, if you were at the 7am Mass last weekend, you would have heard this invitation:
I am looking for 10 people who are willing to be trained, like Paul and Barnabas, to become MISSIONARIES OF JOY. You can read about it in the Review this (past) weekend or on the Archdiocesan website. It is a year-long formation process – 12 monthly formation webinars, four in person meetings, and then discerning with me how to put structures into place here at SH that will help create that new heaven and new earth spoken of in today’s readings. Pray about it for at LEAST 9 days. And then, if interested, there will be a portal on our website/the Archdiocesan one to begin that process of being considered.
So, do some praying and discerning about that invitation from our chief shepherd, Archbishop Rozanski. Tie it in to a Novena to the Holy Spirit, asking for guidance as you discern what is the next step in your walk of faith to support our parish’s life of faith. And then let me know…
