The More Things Change…

...the more they stay the same. Thank you for the gracious way you adapted to the change in the blessing of throats last weekend: doing it once over everyone so that blessing could include those watching on video and anyone not comfortable being that close during a long blessing prayer. It was still the same blessing, and your accommodation allowed it to be shared with those who may need it most.

As you may have heard, Ash Wednesday will be a little different this year too, but it has more that is “the same” than you may realize. The same words “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return” or “Repent and believe in the Gospel” will be said (but only once), and blessed ashes will still be placed (silently) on the head of each of us who pre-sent ourselves as a repentant sinner, in need of God’s mercy and grace. Much like the people of Nineveh in the Book of Jonah repented by pouring ashes on their heads, Rome has called for that to be the practice throughout the world this year: sprinkling a few ashes on top of our heads. This is the way people in some countries do it every year, and this year we will do it the same way as our international sisters and brothers in the Lord. I am wondering if sprinkling ashes on the head is not an appropriate way of responding to Jesus who, in the same Ash Wednesday gospel each year, calls us to participate in our religious acts “in secret” because of our interior disposition that longs for God to heal, forgive, and restore us.

Now a different example. I received an unusual letter from the Clergy Personnel office recently, but I believe that it too is an opportunity to keep something “the same.” Since my six year term as Pastor of our collaborative parishes will expire this June, the letter informed me about the process for alternatives of what could happen next. After further discernment, I submitted a formal letter to our Archbishop, Cardinal Seán, asking that he reappoint me to pastor the same parishes of St. Martha and St. Mary for another term. A lot has changed in our parishes and our world since Fr. Bill Schmidt generously offered to swap roles so you could have some continuity in priestly ministry (for a change), but I feel called to be a part of the post-pandemic re-growth of our parishes as they strengthen one another through a renewed spirit of evangelization in our church and our communities. Officials will now conduct a few consultations to provide the Cardinal with the information he needs to make a decision about my request, but I am told I should get an answer in about two months. Meanwhile, I’ll keep working on plans for our collaborative to move forward together.

Therefore, as we enter Lent with the same pastor, ashes, Lenten practices, and Catholic faith, we can handle a few changes along the way — especially those that unite us and bring us closer to Jesus our Lord. He shares our joys and sufferings, our challenges and our hopes for the future! Despite how many things change, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever!” (Heb. 13:8)