Notes on the Transitions,
Number 3 in a Series
Church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, Tacoma
Last night, the Holy Rosary Transition Team met for the first time with our new pastor, Very Rev. Nicholas Wichert, as well as our current pastor, Rev. Jacob Maurer. The meeting was ably facilitated by a number of folks from the Archdiocese, including Deacon Eric Paige and Leigh Stringfellow from the office of the Vicar of Clergy.
They were great, and I don’t envy them their job.
The meeting was, in general, very positive. There was a sense of sadness, of course, at losing our fantastic pastor, as well as some trepidation of what the future might hold. That’s perfectly natural; in a real sense many of us are still grieving.
However, everyone on the team was upbeat on the future of the parish, and hopeful that the Lord was guiding us in the right direction, even if we don’t know the way.
I am reminded of a great meditation by Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman, which hangs above my desk:
God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission – I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.
I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for nothing. I shall do good. I shall do His work.
Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am. I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him.
He does nothing in vain. He knows what he is about.
Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Tacoma
This weekend, the team will be handing out surveys at all Masses to get a sense from the community of where their preferences might be.
We will meet again next week, this time with the Visitation Church Transition Team at Visitation.
Thank you for your optimism and uplifting encouragement! We are so blessed in our Parish. Truly the graces that God poured, and continues to pour down on us, are unfathomable. If we but see with the eyes of faith, eyes focused on God, and on the things that are in heaven, to walk by faith not by sight, these struggles and turbulences we are now experiencing, are just temporary. God has a plan and His plan is better than ours. My kids love Veggie Tale movies. There is a particular episode that comes to mind, “Where is God when I am scared,”….little Jr. Asparagus learns: “when I am afraid I will trust in the Lord.” And so every time I have an unfavorable encounter with someone or find myself in a place I’m not particularly fond of, or hear an alarming and disturbing message or news that makes me want to hide in my little shell …I hear that voice in my head “God is Bigger…when I am afraid, I will trust in the Lord.” When that crashing wave of uncertainties seems to overwhelm me, I imagine God riding the waves…then it’s not so scary anymore! The transition that we are facing is truly a blessing in disguise. Our challenge is to see the underlining. We are invited to trust God, to go with the flow knowing the God is directing the current. Trust Him, walk in faith and watch and see what He does…and BE AMAZED! When God blesses, He blesses to overflowing. “The Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in Him.” Psalm 32:10.
And let’s not set aside that we have a Loving Mother who is interceding for us and for our Parishes’ intentions, who is consoling us during this hard times, who is wrapping us under the mantle of her maternal love and care: “Listen. Put into your heart, my smallest child, that the thing that frightened you, the thing that afflicted you is nothing…Do not let it disturb you…Am I not here, I who am your mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am may not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hallow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need something more?” —Our Lady of Guadalupe, 1531. And so, with that, I stopped doubting and start trusting.
Lord I am anticipating and rejoicing for what YOU have in store for us in our Parishes in these coming weeks…months…years! I trust with great confidence in Your infinite love, oceans of mercy, providential care, and overflowing generosity. Thank you God for our Priests, Your Church, and for the people that you have surrounded us with in times of struggles and uncertainties. Jesus I Trust In You!
Thank you very kindly!
I’m particularly grateful that you mentioned Our Lady. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that both of these parishes have her as their patron.
One of Our Lady’s titles is “Undoer of Knots”, and we must continue to pray for her intercession to straighten out any of the difficulties we encounter.