Bless me, Father, for I have sinned…

A couple days ago, I had decided to shut down my body in order to get a day of rest. At the time, I felt as if I had flu-like symptoms and my body felt extremely weak. I thought to myself that if I did not go to bed and rest the entire day, a small experience of sickness would escalate into something that would put me in bed for a substantial period of time. And so, under the orders of Dr. Pete Jankowski, I spent the day in horizontal prayer.

About 8:30 that same evening, I received a phone call from the hospital in La Grange, IL, from a nurse who was in need of a priest. It seems that a 38 year old man named John was dying from cancer and they were in need of a cleric in this time of crisis. I told the nurse that I felt extremely badly for the man, but because I was sick, coupled with the fact that about fifty parishes are located between La Grange, IL, and St. Patrick's Church in Joliet, I asked her to call the neighboring parishes for help and to call me only if she could not find anyone else. As soon as I hung up the phone, I immediately fell back asleep under the influence of six ounces of Nyquil. Fifteen minutes later, the nurse called back.

It seems that the family just was not content to have any priest come and anoint their John. They wanted me; they needed me. It seems that earlier this decade, I had celebrated John's wedding liturgy here in Joliet, as well as his sister's wedding, also in Joliet. The family insisted that they were in need of me for this task and that I needed to get out of bed to help them in their time of grief. Essentially, I guilted myself in getting out of bed to travel the half an hour it takes to travel from Joliet to La Grange (and who says Catholic priests are immune to guilt?). As I reflected on this experience these last few days, I reminded myself that the life of the priest is like that of a married spouse. When you choose to marry someone, you make a commitment, through better or worse, good times or bad, to give your heart and soul to your spouse out of love. It is the commitment that every married person in the Church made on the day of their wedding. It is the commitment that I made on the day of my ordination to my bride, the Church. It is the commitment that our Lord made on the cross to his bride, the Church, as blood and water flowed from his side, intermingling in a great symbol of marriage that would never separate. When you see that commitment lived out by those married for 25, 50 or 75 years, you realize how sacred that life is and how seriously we all should take the vocations were are committed to live.

Unfortunately, I was not thinking about that commitment on my way to La Grange Hospital. All I could think about on my half an hour drive was how my so and so God had guilted me to get out of bed to help someone I was in no condition to help. I ended up going to confession for the various sins that I had committed these last few days.

When I reached the hospital about 9:30 that evening, I was met by the nurse who had called me and taken up to John's room, where his family gathered around his bed in great suffering. I spent about a half an hour with the family, speaking to the sister about all the issues involved with this type of grief and helped her figure out a way to tell John's children that their father was very sick. As I spent this important time with the family, I realized how arrogant I was for not making time for a family in grief and realized how necessary my ministry was to the people I serve, especially for those who have had contact with me in the past.

The fact is that as a Catholic priest, you need me. No, you do not need the individual named Pete Jankowski. Instead, you need the vessel through which Jesus Christ is present and preaches the message of hope. Without the priest, it is not possible to confer the sacraments or to have this type of unconditional attention that is afforded the people of faith. This is why we are urged to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life in order that this ministry to the people of the world like John and all of you can be made possible.

But you just don't need me; I need you. I need you because you are made in the image and likeness of God and you possess certain gifts that I do not possess. As much as I have been trained (well or badly) to preach the word of God, I certainly am incapable of fixing a boiler or tuning up my car or taking care of limitless tasks that I cannot accomplish without your help. In the world of a Catholic parish, I may be the spiritual father but you are the bread and butter that feed this community. You are the ones who support the parish through your time, talents and financial resources. Without you, the Church would have a difficult time sustaining itself here at St. Patrick's. Because of you, the Church of St. Patrick's remains strong for our 170 years and beyond.

I came to realize in today's gospel reading about our Lord's journey to Emmaus how all of us, at one time or another, forget how the Lord walks with us at every moment of our journey and yet seems invisible to us due to our inability to focus on our Lord's presence. The story of the disciples' blindness from 2000 years ago easily can be applied to the times of today as well. When people seek the presence of the Lord in their lives, sometimes we forget to turn to the Christian next to them and see that the Lord is very much present in the feet and the heart of that very same person. For those who are baptized and have made a commitment to God in their lives become the doorway through which the divine is present. And when we open that door, when we share this meal with each other and invite others to join us at this banquet before us, it is then that we realize that as much as we say we need the Lord in our lives, he responds by giving us more in return, more than we could ever need or want.

And as much as I need you and you need me, and as much as we are all in need of the Lord, all of us are in need of the Church of which the Lord has gifted us, in this case the Diocese of Joliet. The work of the diocese is to provide assistance on a large scale that no parish can offer on its own to each community. It is through the diocese that we have a centrally located office that provides resources and support to our Catholic Schools and Religious Education Programs. It is through the diocese that the Church offers assistance to all couples preparing for marriage, for support during their marriages, for counseling during times of grief and, when difficulties in marriages arise, the means by which to address those difficult situations.

It is because of the diocese that we are able to educate the seminarians who serve as our future priests. Considering that we spend over a half million dollars a year for the sake of their education, we realize on a parish level how we would never be able to support our priesthood candidates alone, that we need all the parishes to work together through the diocese in order to make the future of our Church a reality.

In a minute, our diocesan bishop will speak to us in his own words about how much the diocese needs you, how much the diocese needs your help. The goal at St. Patrick's for this year is to raise over $36,000 for the sake of the ministries in our diocese. May we be as generous as we can so that the work of the diocese can supply for the daily spiritual needs for which all of us ask our Lord to provide for us.

This is our prayer.