August
24, 2008
So
you're not the Pope
College
I’m collecting the names
and e-mail addresses of
college-age students so St.
Brigid’s can send an
occasional “letter from
home”to our students--
especially those who are
away from home during
these years. The easiest way to sign up and stay in touch is to do it
online:
www.saintbrigid.net/college
If you are a college
student, just log onto this
page. If you’re the parent or grandparent of someone in college,
you can either go online or write your child’s name, college and
e-mail address on a piece of paper and drop it at the office or even
in the collection basket.
Finally, look out the window of your home--do you know any neighbors
who belong to St. Brigid’s whose children are in college? Then
here’s your mission this week: cut out this column and visit with
the family and invite them to sign up.
Thanks.
e-mail Father Ralph:
Past
Columns:
August 17: When God says
"no"
August 10: The Tiny Whispering
Sound
August 3: A Proud and Tender
Moment
July 27: What
would you ask for?
July 20: Waiting
for the Wheat
July
13: What we Wear
uly
6: We Welcome Westbrook
June
29: Sommer in the Summer
June 22: Welcome
Father Jaime
June 15: Father
Gonzalo Lopez
June 8: What happened
on Sunday
June 1: Where
do you belong?
May
25: We are the Body of Christ
May 18: Trinity,
It's About Unity
May 11: We are
One in the Spirit
May 4: Who's in
Your Top Twelve?
April 27: Now
that he's gone...
April 20: Yay
Deacons!
April 13: Here
comes the Pope
April 6: Fresh Oil
March 30: What are you doing
for Easter?
March 23: Can Easter come
too early?
March 16: Which crowd is
yours?
March 9: We believe, yet...
March 2: Oil or Mud
February
24: What are you thirsting for?
February 17: Who are You
Wearing?
February 10: Just Say No
February
3: The January
20: Being Safer
January 13: Conversations
in 2008
January 6: Matthew's Magi
December 30:
What's Next?
Columns from
2007
Columns
from 2005
Columns
from 2004
Columns
from 2003
Columns from 2002
Let’s
face it--neither you nor I will probably ever be pope.
(Hmmm... then again Peter probably never imagined that Jesus would give
him the keys either!) Well we need to “get over it”, 'cause
we’ll never be pope. But that doesn’t mean that God hasn’t
given us keys to something. (And it’s probably not keys to a new
hybrid car.)
But really...in each of our lives God has a plan, a “mission”,
a purpose. And like Peter, God calls us from our “fishing around”
kind of life to one where we matter to God’s plan. This is echoed
in today’s first reading from Isaiah where God tells a man named
Eliakim that he has plans for him: “I will fix him like a peg in
a sure spot,” he says.
So as the remaining days of summer
wind down, as you walk the
beach or just sit out in the garden, listen for the Lord’s call
and
affirmation. Jesus recognizes in Peter a sure and certain faith that Peter
can’t always see in himself-- just consider all the times that Peter
wavers. But Jesus knows what he is doing in putting Peter in charge. And
Jesus knows what he is doing in putting you in charge of part of his plan
this year.
Sometimesthe“plan”
is easily discerned...some of us are parents or grandparents or godparents....some
of us have positions of influence in our workplace or neighborhoods or
families. But sometimes the “plan” is more subtle and surprising.
There are talents and desires that lie beneath the surface of our lives
which God wants to bring outright now and use to make a difference in
the world. We can see these pop into consciousness from time to time but
the demands and busy-ness of life can push them back down and we go through
the motions of living the alternate life. But if we could only see the
life God has in store for us, then we can be “pope.”
Jesus knew what he wanted Peter
to do in advancing the kingdom of God. And he knows what he wants us to
do. May we figure it out!
