IT ALL MATTERS
It has been an incredible weekend of blessings! And how cool that these blessings fell on Labor Day weekend, a weekend when we celebrate the accomplishment of a year’s worth of labor. For sure, labor is hard, but God is good, and I am really feeling it this weekend!
On Friday we learned that our beloved Fr. Andrew Wellmann has received news that the mass on his brain is benign. Over the past two months we have all prayed our hearts out for this man who has freely chosen to shepherd, inspire, and love us. His presence to our faith community is powerful and we are moved with gratitude and thanksgiving to God, because, trust me, His witness matters, and we very much need his leadership and faithfulness. Please continue your prayers for Fr. Andrew as the decision to remove the tumor is still being discerned, but thank you, Jesus, for the blessing of this news that came to us on Friday!
On Saturday the blessings continued as I was able to spend the day with many of my family members, immediate and extended, celebrating birthdays, sunshine, and the end of summer, which seemed to be a blur this year, but, still, I know my pace slowed a bit and I was able to have some treasured moments of rejuvenation from my labors. I needed that. We all do. It makes a difference…and truly matters…which is precisely why God gave us the Sabbath.
It is now Sunday, and I have just returned from Mass at St. Paul Catholic Chapel at Clear Lake, Indiana feeling reflective and encouraged. The Mass I attended was pure blessing and will be long remembered, starting with my first deliberation as I walked into the sanctuary… where to sit. I was doing some mental gymnastics over this seemingly simple task, which I hope didn’t show from the outside. Finally, done and done! I’m actually pretty sure the Holy Spirit inspired the selection, because, as it turned out, it gave me a unique perspective that allowed me to notice certain things that I wouldn’t have if I had been sitting somewhere else.
My second deliberation quickly followed the first. As I kneeled down to pray I wondered if I should finish the Rosary I had started on the way to church, or do my usual…which is to try to put myself in the proper frame of mind and spirit as I go before God. I chose the latter, and was off and running, when I noticed the back of the t-shirt the lady three rows in front of me was wearing. (Don’t wonder why I often have my eyes closed at Mass. I’m easily distracted. This t-shirt, however, was worth noticing.) It quoted John 6:51 ~ “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
Having recently attended the Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, this verse held more than its usual fervor, and I just kept reading and rereading the back of this random woman’s t-shirt. I’m so grateful she wore it and I kept thinking to myself that our clothing choices matter. She had no idea what her choice was doing for me, let alone anyone else in the church who
happened to notice as well. A few moments later I noticed a different accessory choice from another random woman that affected my senses in the best of ways. This second woman was choosing to wear a scapular on the outside of her clothing, rather than tucked underneath, as is usually the case. By so doing, she was choosing to make a bold statement about her devotion to Jesus via His devoted mother. Anyhow, I noticed and was yet again encouraged.
I also noticed that when the opening hymn began, the young man in the pew behind me was singing with confidence and conviction. It made me happy. In a day and age when so many simply mumble their way through Mass music (if they even sing at all), I love it when I hear people singing around me. It makes me feel like I’m truly in a community of believers. It matters. At least it does to me.
Next up were the readings of the day. I noticed that the lector had to make a real effort to even get to the ambo and was using a cane of sorts, which I thought was powerful in and of itself. When he arrived at the ambo, he proclaimed the scriptures as if it was his personal responsibility to get the message across. Crisp, clear, articulate, convincing and convicting…he nailed it! Presentation matters and that man and his effort did not go unnoticed. Onto the Gospel reading and homily!
The pastor is new to St. Anthony and his name is Fr. Osman Ramos, FM. In my opinion, he’s very spirited and spiritual. He’s also very courageous! He started the homily by referring to this particular Mass as the “last supper” for many in the church due to the fact that it was Labor Day weekend and many would be returning back to their home parishes away from the lake. I loved his reference to the “last supper” and was chuckling to myself when he announced that he would be talking about the upcoming election. This promised to get interesting. He had my attention.
Of all days not to have a pen and paper in my purse! I had even left my cell phone in the car, which would please my twin sister, Cheryl. She hates it when I whip out my phone and start taking notes on the homily. She tells me it’s a bad witness because people will see me and think I’m texting during Mass. I tell her that God did not gift me with a photographic memory and if people were paying attention to the homily they wouldn’t be watching me taking notes on my phone. I did ask Fr. Osman for his notes after Mass, but as of this writing, they have not yet arrived, so you’re forced to put up with my poor memory and a Carol-esk translation. Here goes!
He started out by talking about truth and the fact that the result of all GOOD things is always truth. He then alluded to the fact that it doesn’t really matter what I see as truth or what you see as truth. The only truth that really matters is God’s truth. He also talked about people who have decided they don’t need to go to church; it’s enough to be spiritual. He said that was a
dangerous way to go through life. I honed in on the word dangerous and it scared me for all the people I know who fit in that category.
I may be getting this out of order but Fr. Osman then went on to quote the Catechism of the Catholic Church (the CCC). He said there were three small paragraphs that hold a lot of truth and the first one he mentioned was CCC 1955. (I could remember it because it’s the year my husband was born.) That piece shares that “The ‘divine and natural’ law shows man the way to follow so as to practice the good and attain his end. The natural law states the first and essential precepts which govern the moral life. It hinges upon the desire for God and submission to him, who is the source and judge of all that is good, as well as upon the sense that the other is one’s equal.”
He then jumped down to the CCC 1954 which states that “Man participates in the wisdom and goodness of the Creator who gives him mastery over his acts and the ability to govern himself with a view to the true and the good. The natural law expresses the original moral sense which enables man to discern by reason the good and the evil, the truth and the lie. The natural law is written and engraved in the soul of each and every man, because it is human reason ordaining him to do good and forbidding him to sin…But this command of human reason would not have the force of law if it were not the voice and interpreter of a higher reason to which our spirit and our freedom must be submitted.”
He concluded with the CCC 1956: The natural law, present in the heart of each man and established by reason, is universal in it precepts and its authority extends to all men. It expresses the dignity of the person and determines the basis for his fundamental rights and duties: For there is a true law: right reason. It is in conformity with nature, is diffused among all men, and is immutable and eternal; its orders summon to duty; its prohibitions turn away from offense….To replace it with a contrary law is a sacrilege; failure to apply even one of its provisions is forbidden; no one can abrogate it entirely.”
This may all seem a bit heady, but I think it’s worth our time to try to understand what these three small sections of the CCC are trying to tell us. Fr. Osman must have thought so as well because he took the time to go through each section, and he strikes me as the kind of priest who thinks long and hard about what he wants to say and how he wants to say it. He also concluded his homily imploring us to understand that is is not okay for anyone to follow man’s law at the expense of God’s law. God’s truth is the truth we should be paying attention to, honoring, trusting, and following. And God’s truth tells us to protect all human life. He made it very clear that to be a Catholic it is unacceptable to do anything other than God’s truth. He reminded us that there are many out there who do not like Catholics because of their decision to uphold life and that it will require us to be very courageous.
And like all good leaders of the faith, he did not leave us without some solid resources! He most definitely encouraged us to stay close to the Eucharist and the Blessed Mother (who is also our second mother), to read the lives of the saints, and to trust God with everything in us. Incidentally, there was a woman in the row right in front of me who was beaming through the entire homily and who just kept shaking her head “yes” to everything Fr. Osman was saying. I couldn’t help but notice and her positive attitude affected me. She’ll never know it, but she mattered to me at that moment.
The Mass continued and I just kept noticing beautiful things: four brothers who were authentically and joyfully giving each other the sign of peace, a young father singing prayerfully as he processed up to Communion holding his young and watchful son, another young adult who was returning from Communion wearing a very large crucifix around his neck, the musicians who sang and played with so much passion and purpose, the generosity of the man behind me who alerted me to the fact that I had left my keys in the pew at the end of Mass. I was in a hurry to shake Fr. Osman’s hand and buy some ribs. He had just gotten done telling us that if we didn’t support the St. Paul’s Rib Fest, he’d remember us come Ash Wednesday with the distribution of ashes! Gotta love a priest with a sense of humor!
After retrieving my keys, I talked to Fr. Osman and commented on his courage and conviction. He asked me to pray for him, which I did immediately…and which I will continue to do. I walked back to my car (after my rib purchase!), thinking to myself how much every little thing, every action we take, every choice we make, every little nuance…matters. Gosh, I can’t wait to see what tomorrow’s blessings will be to cap off the Labor Day weekend.