It’s déjà vu all over
again! Father Seith is here and suddenly
you remember him from two years ago, when he was a seminarian just finished with
second theology. But the same weekend,
there goes Keith Burney after eight weeks with us, heading back to seminary to
complete the two years remaining before he, too, God willing, be ordained a
priest. Coming and going, one is as the
other was, the other how they both will be.
You may think that
they are here in our midst for what they have to offer, and so indeed they
are. But do not neglect to be aware of
what you (individually and communally – I guess that would be “y’all”) have to
offer them. As Pastor, I receive them here
in our parish, both as seminarian and new priest, with the confidence that you
will give them freely all that you have, to help and form them as Christ would
form them, by their union, each in proper Order, with His Body, the Church.
Keith left a note for
me to share with you, so I pass it on to you below.
Monsignor
Smith
Letter from Our
Seminarian
This week in the
Gospel, we hear Jesus use multiple parables to describe the Kingdom of Heaven,
from it being like good seed in a field, to being a small mustard seed that grows
into the largest of plants, to finally being like yeast that leavens the batch
of dough. Having spent eight weeks with
you this summer, I can testify to the fact that the good seeds of faith have
been planted here at Saint Bernadette and are growing abundantly.
During my
after-communion reflection last week, I related how I truly encountered Christ
once again, and have been reaffirmed in my vocation, through the beauty, truth,
and goodness that I experienced during my assignment here. Consequently, it occurred to me while writing
this column that this is precisely the yeast that leavens the faith of the
parish.
We know that the various
vices of our times and culture provide more than enough weeds to choke the
faith. However, the beauty, truth, and goodness
that we experience through the liturgies we celebrate, the Gospel that is
preached to us, the virtues of our communal life together – not to mention the
sheer fact of receiving the living God in the Eucharist and other sacraments – gives
us everything we need for the faith to grow and flourish, even in the midst of
those weeds. That is why it is so
important for all of us to remain rooted in the Church’s sacramental and
communal life, so that we may remain united to Jesus and allow the Kingdom to grow
strong in our midst.
So, as I move on to
another year of formation in the seminary and another pastoral assignment, I
give thanks to God for the presence of Christ here at Saint Bernadette, for the
vibrant faith of its parishioners, and for the blessing of spending this short
time with you. The seeds of my own
vocation, which I described in my first column as being planted in my own home
parish many years ago, have certainly been nourished and continued to grow
stronger by my eight weeks here in this parish.
Please be assured of
my continued prayers for you all, and please continue to pray for me and all of
my fellow seminarians, that we may remain faithful to the Lord’s call and that
we persevere in doing His Will. May God
bless all of you!
Keith
Burney
