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Saturday I had the joy of celebrating evening Mass at Shepherd of the Hills Parish in Eden. This great congregation faces a choking debt due to their beautiful new church, struggles to sacrifice for their excellent school, and is still grieving the loss of their beloved pastor, who has taken a leave from ministry. However, in the face of all these personal problems, the opening announcement at the weekend Mass was, “Tonight we pray for those suffering from the hurricane, and our second collection will be sent to help them.”
That is Jesus . . . that is His gospel . . . that is His Church at her best . . . that is the Eucharist.
Sunday evening found me on the campus of the Milwaukee School of Engineering, celebrating their opening Mass of the academic year at the invitation of the Catholic Student Association. It happened again: young people with a lot on their minds as school reconvenes, some homesick, others renewing friendships, moving into new housing, orientation, books, classes . . . and the announcement as Mass begins, “This evening we pray for those suffering from the hurricane, and we’ll take up a collection to help them.”
This is Jesus . . . this is His gospel . . . this is His Church at her finest . . . this is the Eucharist.
Philip Hannan is the retired Archbishop of New Orleans. He is now ninety-two years old. After the hurricane, they worried because they could not locate him. But soon he shows-up at the makeshift Catholic Center in Baton Rouge. An officer during World War II, he salutes his successor, Archbishop Alfred Hughes, and says, “Reporting for duty, sir. Where do you need me to help?”
That’s what Catholics in southeastern Wisconsin have been saying this last week, united with believers and citizens from all over our beloved country. “Where do you need me to help?”
· As Catholic Charities coordinates collections in all our parishes to get food, housing, medicine, and rebuilding materials to the devastated areas;
· As Father Frank Malloy, pastor of St. Luke in Brookfield, and chaplain with the Reserves, leaves tomorrow for a month of service in the disaster area;
· As schools, programs, and organizations rally to get aid to those in distress;
· As St. Francis de Sales Seminary invites some of the hundred seminarians from the nearly-leveled Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans to come up here for the year;
· As our Catholic colleges here in Milwaukee encourage students from flooded campuses down South to come up North and study here as their guests;
· As our priests offer to gather desperately needed altar breads, sacramental wine, vestments, and liturgical books so that the Eucharist can be celebrated once again for people hungry for spiritual consolation;
I could go on, but I have a conference call from the Bishops’ Conference to bring us up-to-date and tell us how we can be of even more help.
I am very proud of all of you.
This is Jesus . . . this is His gospel . . . this is His Church at her best . . . this is the Eucharist.
Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan
Some Seed Fell on Good Ground is Archbishop Dolan's personal communication to those with whom he shares ministry in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. For this reason, it is not to be printed in bulletins or newsletters without the prior permission of the Department for Communication.
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