14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B July 7, 2024
Fr. Alexander Albert St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville
“They took offense at him… He was amazed at their lack of faith.” As your new pastor, I pray that does not often describe us! Or that, if it does, it does not come to the same conclusion. There aren’t exactly any hills for you to throw me off of, but I’d still rather not end up tossed into the bayou over something I say!
Now, I’m not Jesus and I’m not perfect, so it’s possible, perhaps even likely that any conflict you and I may have is at least partly my fault. Still, as we set out on this time together, let’s try to hold to a simple agreement. I shall strive to offer you the love and truth of Jesus Christ in and through the Church and you shall strive not to lose faith, take offense, or toss me into the bayou. Sound fair? Indeed, I sense that I shall also receive Christ from you through your witness to the Gospel.
Not that any of us should expect this to go perfectly. It is precisely that idea of expectations that we need to pay attention to today. Why do the Nazoreans reject Jesus Christ? Because he was not what they expected. That’s natural, it’s normal to react negatively to unmet expectations. Unmet expectations create pain, disappointment, annoyance and a whole host of negative experiences. Even worse, when unmet expectations are not properly addressed, those emotions and feelings metastasize into resentment. And resentment? It poisons everything. Marriages, friendships, businesses, governments, the social order, even churches are hurt and often destroyed by resentment.
It is this resentment, this rapidly putrefying anger at Jesus not being what they expected that leads the Nazoreans, the people who grew up with Jesus to try to kill him. Can you imagine that? That would be a like you trying to drown Fr. Louis in the bayou just because the kid you knew wound up being your pastor. Thanks be to God that that’s not what happened. You received him with great love and docility. I am immensely grateful to Fr. Louis for the good work he’s done here; grateful to you for your willingness to receive him and his many gifts.
Still, we have to watch out for that resentment. To prevent resentment, we need to have right expectations. The Nazoreans – very incorrectly – expected the messiah to be so completely other that Jesus’ humanity was deeply offensive to them. Jesus did nothing wrong to cause resentment. Their false expectations caused it. Jesus, despite being literally God, could not fix that. Jesus’ perfect humanity offended people. The imperfect humanity of priests often offends people too.
So, you and I have to talk about expectations to avoid that problem in the first place. Specifically, what do you expect of me? And what do I expect of you? We’ve already agreed to try not to end up like the Nazoreans here with y’all tossing me out, but let’s get specific.
First up, you have every right to expect me to offer you the sacraments: Masses, Confessions, Anointings, Baptisms, Weddings. I exist to bring you Jesus Christ through the sacraments and I will strive to do so. But you and I both can only expect the sacraments as they really are, not as we wish them to be. I think you know that the Church is not Burger King – have it your way. We do not get to decide what the sacraments are or how they work. I cannot expect another priest to change the rules for my confession and you cannot expect that from me. I will have to tell some of you “no” at least some of the time. I promise to do my best to only do so when it’s actually called for… to avoid personal bias or arbitrary opinions and to stick to the truth of what the sacraments are according to the form handed down to us by God and his Church. For my part, I expect you to try to understand that.
Secondly, you have every right to expect from me the teaching of the Church, the truth. Not ideologies, not personal opinions, not the latest fad; the eternal truth as given us in and through the Church. I will strive to teach Scripture and Tradition, to faithfully follow the magisterium of the Church, and to seek practical and creative ways to apply the eternal truth to our own circumstances. Some of those truths are hard to hear – believe me, they are often quite hard to say – but you and I both must remember that it’s not about us. The Truth is for us, but that doesn’t make it about us. Let’s strive to love and follow the truth, to help each other bear with that truth whenever it hurts to do so.
Third, things will change. It’s inevitable. Despite the fact that we are a Church rooted in the eternal, unchanging truth of Jesus Christ who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, we are living, breathing human beings who still live in time. Therefore, we will change. Change in itself is not bad. The same eternal truth takes on a different appearance in different circumstances. We’ve always had the 7 sacraments, but the timing, language, and format of those sacraments have shifted throughout history and in different cultures.
I am not Fr. Louis and you are not St. John the Evangelist parish. So, you and I both will face changes in how we experience the Church despite the fact that we are all still members of the same Catholic Church, brothers and sisters of the one, eternal high priest Jesus Christ. I just ask this: when I change something, try to see it in the best possible light. Start by accepting it and looking for the reason rather than defensively demanding proof before accepting it. Change doesn’t always mean that what was done before was bad. Sometimes a good thing needs to become a different good thing because life changes. For my part, I will strive to explain why when possible. I will strive to show that what I do is not about mere preference or comfort, but is rooted in some higher principle and/or a particular pastoral need.
Finally, resentments will still happen even when our expectations are reasonable. If the poison of resentment cannot always be avoided, is there some antidote once it turns up? Yes. It’s called forgiveness. Perhaps you’re excited about having me as your new pastor right now, but there will be times when at least some of you will be very unhappy with me. I will make mistakes and so will you. Even if it isn’t a mistake, it may still hurt. So you and I will need to forgive each other our mistakes or at least forgive each other for the pain caused even when one or both of us have done the right thing. Even saints often hurt each other. The key is that the loved and forgave each other even then.
Truly, it is a joy to begin my time as your pastor. I look forward to what the Lord has in store for us. While we do not always know what to expect from each other, we know what we can expect from the Lord: his loving mercy. So, as we begin our time together, let us keep our eyes “fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.” The Lord knows we’re definitely going to need it.