01/07/01
Sometimes, we forget
Sometimes, it’s easy to forget why we’re here. Sometimes, we get
tied up in the how and the now and the task that’s right in front
of us. “Why” becomes almost an afterthought.
But it’s an affliction that catches us all, even at church. Recall
the cliché: “It’s hard to remember the task is to drain the swamp
when you’re up to your [elbows] in alligators.”
We just celebrated Christmas. Anyone who’s been involved in Christmas
liturgies, Christmas preparations, decorating the church, arranging
gifts for the less-fortunate and so much more knows what I’m talking
about.
That likely goes double—even triple—for clergy who can run themselves
ragged from Mass to Mass, all to provide an appropriate celebration.
Holiday hustle and bustle doesn’t only affect shoppers and toy-challenged
parents. Sadly, it’s a problem that cuts across all areas of life.
Sometimes, though, great truths of faith lie not only in the correctness
of theology, or the careful celebration of the liturgy. These
are important, central even. But remember how this little reflection
began: Sometimes, it’s easy to forget why we’re here. And we need
to be reminded.
For a tremendous reminder of “why,” read the piece on Page 6,
a slice of life from just an ordinary parish in the Archdiocese
of Chicago.
Father Fred Brandstrader, pastor of St. Joseph the Worker in Wheeling
finds a powerful sense of why we gather as community, why we celebrate
God’s presence the way we do, why it’s important—especially in
a church which is becoming more culturally diverse—to see and
remember those moments God lays before us.
It was just another Christmas celebration, writes Brandstrader,
just another busy, faithful, almost overwhelming time of celebrating—yet
again—another Christmas.
Christmases sometimes blend together. This time, though, there
will be no forgetting.
At the core of our theology, faith overcomes evil and pain. It’s
the “why” of what we believe. At St. Joseph the Worker, faith
has again overcome evil and pain. “We will never forget,” he writes.
Read it; you’ll never forget either.
Correction—Sharp-eyed readers were correct: despite caption material
from Catholic News Service, the monk pictured on Page 1 (Dec.
24-Jan. 6) was Armenian Orthodox,
—Tom Sheridan,
Editor and General Manager
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