Vince’s Daily Journal – Day 4
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Tuesday are Catholic Mass days here at FCI Pekin. We’ve had the same priest for my entire stay here – Fr. Mike Andreic (forgive my spelling if it’s wrong, I’ve never seen them man’s name written down), and I’ve come to really appreciate how he takes on his pastoral role. While Mass doesn’t start until 13.30, Fr. Mike routinely shows up around 13.00 so that we have plenty of time for him to hear confessions from any of the men desiring it, even though there’s typically only one or two guys looking to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation each day. I also have to say he is one of the more helpful confessors I’ve had, he really takes the time to listen, to try to help discover the root of the ingrained sin and prescribe me spiritual practices to fight it. Then he spends the rest of the time before Mass, as we set up the chapel together, joking with us, talking sports and politics, and making a point to know our names, home towns and home teams. Asking how are parents, spouses, kids and family are doing.
What’s the big deal you say? Previously, there had really only been two priests who were ever at my home parish (plus near a decade of having a revolving door of ‘substitute’ priests [Important related PSA – if you’re a young man out there who thinks they might have a vocation to the priesthood – LEAN INTO IT! Please!!! We desperately need new priests in this country!!]). The first, Fr. Paul Moudry, is a priest who seems to love his God and who’s homilies always include a family story and usually at least one belly-laugh. He had a huge hand in shaping my faith, as well as helping me see a way back into the faith after a period of adolescent rebellion that led me the declaim Christianity as a sham for a year or two. The later one, let’s call him Fr. John, honestly didn’t seem interested in being a priest. I make no assumptions as to why, and I don’t even want to claim it as true – it’s just the impression that I got. And during that time, despite my faith being much deeper than it was when we had Fr. Paul, there was something that felt very stale in my faith, because the central part of my faith, the Mass, had lost something fundamental, love. That is not a parish family anymore, unfortunately. Even my parents ended up switching parishes, thankfully landing in one that seems to really take their role seriously, from priest to the ushers volunteering to hand out missalettes. In both parishes, Christ’s sacrifice is re-presented, He enters into our midst in the Eucharist in His entirety – Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Yet, one church leaves its parishioners filled, and the other only half so.
If we want to be good friends, parents, lovers, children, cousins, bosses, coworkers… if we want to be a positive force in the worlds of the people we meet, we can’t forget the little acts of love. Spend those extra five minutes listening to someone’s heartbreak. Pay for the person behind you in line. Bring a meal to a loved one who seems lonely or sad.
Or as Christ said to Jairus and his family, after bringing their dead daughter back to life…
“At that, [the girls parents] were utterly astounded. [Jesus] gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.”
