IT’S my associate pastor’s last Sunday in our parish. The archbishop assigned him to another parish after four years of service at Incarnation Church. We’ll miss his presence, presiding of Masses and other liturgies, and administering of other Sacraments.
Personally, I’ll be missing his company in the rectory. I’ll miss having meals, praying with him, and sharing our experiences of priesthood and faith life.
I hope I have been a great mentor and example to him in my zeal for the Gospel, ministry, and building up a faith-filled, welcoming, and joyful community of faith.
A priest’s life also involves changes, moves, and transitions, which are not easy to do. But that’s the reality of life for most of us. Regarding work, there are no permanent addresses or absolute terms of service. At times, we go where God wants to take us or decide to move, change jobs or retire after prayerful discernment for our benefit.
It’s crucial to trust in God’s providence, abidance, and guidance during these circumstances. As St. Paul tells us in this Sunday’s (June 26) Second Reading (Gal 5:1, 13-18), we must live and be guided by the Spirit. With this attitude, we have nothing to fear. With God, we shall do bravely, Psalm 108 tells us.
In this Sunday’s First Reading (1 Kgs 19:16b, 19-21), Elisha showed this attitude of courage when he decided to follow Elijah and succeed as a prophet, abandoning his work in the field and attachment to his family. He knew that he could fulfill this prophetic call through God’s “double blessings,” which happened after Elijah’s ascension into heaven by a whirlwind.
This Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 9:51-62) also urges us to trust in God’s strength through the Holy Spirit when he calls us to follow him, to live by his words and teachings in these challenging times of the world and the Church.
“Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to rest his head,” Jesus told his disciples after expressing their willingness to follow him. It meant they should be ready for the uncertainties, sacrifices, rejections, and other difficulties that awaited them to be disciples of Jesus. And like the disciples, we also must be ready and brave to fulfill the responsibilities and meet the challenges and hardships of Christian discipleship.
The reward of faithful discipleship is great in heaven and on earth. Fr. John Kavanaugh alluded to it in Victor Frankl’s words in The Doctor of the Soul:
“As soon as we lend our minds to the essence of human responsibility, we cannot forbear to shudder: there is something fearful about human responsibility.
But at the same time, something glorious… It is glorious to know that the future of the things and the people around us is dependent—even if only to a tiny extent—upon our decision at any given moment.
What we actualize by that decision, what we thereby bring into the word, is saved; we have conferred reality upon it and preserved it from passing.”
Blessings to all!
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
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Fr. Rodel “Odey” Balagtas is the pastor of Incarnation Church in Glendale, California.
