The 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time

What do you expect to get from being here today? Do you have any expectations this morning? This is an important question because our expectations focus our attention. What we expect to see strongly influences what we are able to see.

Abraham expected a blessing from God. Kept his eyes peeled for it. He’d been through a long journey following the promises of God. His expectation grew out of that journey. So, Abraham was watching for angels. Abraham expected a blessing which made him attentive. It gave him the eyes to see God when God came close.

What we expect to see strongly influences what we are able to see. Expect the worse and you will find it. Expect the best and it will find you.

Back in 2003 when I created Notre Dame Academy at Saint Lawrence with Fr Tom Gentile and Fr Don Ryan many of us expected Notre Dame to succeed. We expected its success. Therefore, we had eyes attentive to advocacy, teamwork, service. Trust was the anchor of our expectation, trust in God and trust in one another. We chose to have this expectation of success.

The advantage of this expectation? Our attention was rooted in hope. Living out of this hope then colored everything else we saw. Shaped our souls.

There were others around us that expected Notre Dame to fail. They expected failure. Whereas we had eyes to see advocacy, they saw conspiracy. Where we saw teamwork, they saw selfishness. Where we saw service, they saw manipulation and deceit. Where trust was the anchor of our expectation, doubt anchored theirs.

There was an advantage to their expectation. Their attention was not rooted in hope (they said it was rooted in reality.) So, they could never be disappointed, only surprised. Yet cynicism within does have an effect on people. Like our hope-filled expectation, their doubt-filled expectation colored all they saw and shaped their souls.

We have a choice in our expectations and these expectations focus our attention, shape our souls. So, what are you expecting of God today?

Martha could not see what Mary saw, could not seek what Mary sought: a blessing from our God drawn close. Instead, she got advice: “Martha, Martha, your attentions are focused on many things. One thing only is important, and Mary has chosen it. You choose it too.”

What we expect strongly influences what we are able to see. What do you expect from God today?

Martha comes around in the end. She takes Jesus’ advice. Watching for Jesus, expecting a miracle, Martha runs out to meet him as he comes to raise Lazarus. Jesus says to her “I am the resurrection and the life whoever believes in me even if he dies will live and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Martha responds, “Yes Lord, I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”

This same Jesus who draws close to us today. May our hope be rewarded.

Since I was a kid (like Pope Leo; circa 1955), I was taught to express gratitude in the moment.  Delaying is not in my vocabulary, so I wish to take this opportunity to thank each one of you for all the words of encouragement, well wishes and generous gifts as I retire from my responsibilities as a priest-pastor.  It seems that I have been saying ‘adios’ for months but now are the moments that I must make transition in my ministry as priest.  Like most people, I have never retired before so I know that it will be a learning experience with new opportunities to ‘give back’ yet rest and enjoy whatever comes my way.  I hope to take some “picker” trips and eventually finish unboxing all my hobbies of vinyl, books and ephemeral.   

Please pray for me as I will you daily.  Father Jeff is a very blest priest to be pastor of such a wonderful community as SFX!

Much peace and joy!

Starting the weekend of June 28th & 29th, we will begin following the Norms of Posture during the Communion Rite as described in the following letter from Archbishop Shelton.

Congratulations to Sarah Bischoff for being awarded the Patricia French Honorary Scholarship.  

This scholarship was established and awarded for the first time in 2017 with an objective to honor Patricia K. French by recognizing and financially supporting a deserving member of the St. Francis Xavier Community with tuition assistance for college or vocational  school. To qualify, students must be SFX parishioners in their senior year of high school, demonstrate a solid work ethic, and be a service-oriented person of high Christian moral values.

This year’s field of applicants were all deemed by the judges to be highly qualified and their decision was a difficult one, but Sarah Kate’s involvement at St. Francis Xavier and her plans for the future, lifted her to the top. The daughter of Ronnie and Jaime Booker, Sarah impressed the judges with her can-do attitude and self awareness. With plans to attend Murray State University, majoring in Agricultural Education, Sarah hopes to find a church community that offers the same small town parish atmosphere that she enjoys at SFX. She intends to continue answering Christ’s call to love and serve through music ministry wherever her journey takes her.