Easter in Ordinary

Merry Christmas from Chile!

"No prayer can ever bring God any closer. Already, without any effort on your part, God patiently dwells within the tender recesses of your own heart." Mark Yaconelli, Wonder, Fear, and Longing: A Book of Prayers.

I am preparing for some changes. Fr. Peter Pacini, C.S.C. will be taking the helm of St. Adalbert and St. Casimir Parishes in July. I am also preparing to walk the Camino de Santiago de Compostela , departing July 1 and returning August 10. It is a time of taking stock and passing on. It is a time of preparation, spiritual and physical, for the rigors of the pilgrimage. It is a time of remembering and looking ahead. I have been taking some long walks through the neighborhood. I walked past one street to see a crew doing a home demolition. The home has rested on the West Side for probably one hundred years, but I have known something of it since 2001. In 2001, I came to St. Stephen and St. Casimir as associate pastor. Early in my time at St. Stephen, a woman would call the parish office and speak to me anonymously. She was in a violent marriage, raising three children. In a series of calls, I learned that she had previously been hospitalized for a beating that she had t...

There are a few phrases that I find really heartening to describe our work. One begins an article: “It is a beautiful thing to see a good pastor at work.” Chew on it, and the phrase bears tremendous respect for the art of being pastor. Another phrase that helps me comes from a priest describing a ministry resembling my own: “One must be a contemplative to work in the inner-city.” Jesus was sent into the world. Jesus was sent by the Father not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved by him. We, too, are sent into the world. Into its very heart. We parish priests live close to the people. It is a privileged view. Without earning it, without deserving it, we are with folks, invited in, at the most intimate of moments in their lives. Moments of joy-- births, baptisms, marriages. Moments of sorrow-- in the confessional, hospital visits, deaths, funerals. Ours is a privileged view. Some days, I am really tired. I feel like I have seen about all the garbage...

In the midst of Holy Week, we join with whole church for the celebration of these holiest of days. These are a few snapshots of our celebration of these great days.

Well, even the longest day can be lifted by a visit to kindergarten. Few things are more delightful than the laughter heard from the playground. The children in our school are filled with such promise, such potential. Along with them and their parents, our task is to help them develop and use their God-given gifts. We know that every child brings a unique, precious gift, if we have the eyes to see it. We also know that our mission is uniquely about the task of drawing these children deeper into our Catholic faith with an authentic encounter with Jesus Christ. In Catholic education, a Holy Cross education, we seek to educate hearts and minds and hands. Since 2003, the Congregation of Holy Cross has served at St. Adalbert Parish on South Bend’s west side. St. Adalbert, the Krakow parish and a home to Poles for almost one-hundred years, has seen a tremendous shift in its demographics as the neighborhood has become significantly Hispanic. As with many ethnic parishe...

Today begins Catholic Schools Week. St. Adalbert Parish is blessed with an "exemplary" Catholic school-- it is not just me saying so-- the State of Indiana has agreed every year that they have been evaluating Hoosier schools! Bishop Kevin Rhoades, pictured at left, said it well: "A Catholic school is not just a physical place; it is a spiritual reality" as it is commissioned to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. That reality, built on Christ, requires students (naturally), devoted faculty and staff, parents, friends, clergy and religious. An "exemplary" teacher is Annette Romans, sitting to the left of Msgr. Bill Schooler (in the front row). Annette goes above and beyond the call of duty with her students. She serves on our school board. She works closely with parents in the Home And School Association (HASA). Annette was named our Light of Learning winner for 2010. Thank you, Annette, for all you are and do! Thanks, too, to all who ha...

The West Side is dotted with beautiful churches-- not just at St. Adalbert and St. Casimir, but all over. The immigrants who came to the West Side did not have much, apart from a dream and their faith. They lived in smaller homes, but they built beautiful churches! These shared spaces of beauty have always been places of pride in our community. Sometimes, when I drive over the railroad tracks at Ford Street, near Walnut, if I look down the way, I can see St. Hedwig's. I can't tell you how many times we've had cloudy days but a ray of light shines down and illuminates that church. Here is a photo of the bell tower at St. Casimir, taken yesterday (January 30, 2010). It reaches up to heaven in a blue sky. I also love the wispy clouds!

There is an old story about how a person decided to change the doorknob on the front door. This homeowner purchased a lovely doorknob. Once the new one was in place, the homeowner no longer liked how the door looked with the doorknob, so a new door was purchased. Well, the new door and doorknob looked lovely, but, honestly, the house now needed re-painting. You can imagine where this is heading. Well, I purchased a new camera, an Olympus E-620. A couple of professional photographers have crossed my path. They have been very encouraging as I began to use the camera's new features. Pretty soon, I am shooting in a RAW format. Well, Olympus makes good cameras, but they do not make great software. So, I bought Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 after some investigation. Then, I needed some classes. Then. . . You get the picture. And I am trying to take some pictures. Recently, my neighborhood was described as "blighted." Well, it is not beautiful everywhere...