The Kids:  When his parents were still alive, Father Jim Commyn would frequently talk about “the kids.”  He’d say things like, “Well, I just had dinner with the kids” or “I need to stop by the kids’ house today.”  At first, I couldn’t figure out what he was talking about.  After allowing me to linger in confusion for minutes when he first spoke about “the kids,” he clued me in that he was talking about his parents!  Needless to say, that brought a smile to my face!  My parents can blame him because I now will walk into their house and say, “So, how are the kids doing today” or “Do the kids need me to go grocery shopping today?”
 
When my grandparents were alive, I remember my parents talking about watching their own parents grow old.  Roles get reversed, and life can get challenging at times.  It seems as if overnight parents start needing to rely on canes, walkers, or wheelchairs.  When you hear your own parents talk about this transition in life, you never think it will happen to you.  After all, aren’t we all going to be forever young?  Time eventually catches up with you.  Your own bones start to creek, and then suddenly mom and dad need help now.  With all the knee surgeries and complications because of the sepsis, my mom has had a challenging time transitioning to using a walker and wheelchair most times.  We decided to help the process a bit by buying a foldable 10-foot ramp that we can take with us to family events and activities.  I was like a kid in a candy store when the ramp arrived at the Parish Center.  The ramp came in handy for our Griswold Family Vacation at Pine Needle Point.  Based on a suggestion someone offered (thanks Sharon), we even had a ceremonial cutting of the ribbon when my mom used the ramp for the first time at Pine Needle Point.
 
Our vacations are such that we have plenty of family around on the weekends.  Some will leave late on Sunday and others leave early Monday morning depending on work schedules.  Then my mom, dad, and one or two of my siblings and I will continue on for the remainder of the week.  Our basic philosophy is that it doesn’t matter how long you’re up north; it’s all about getting there and spending whatever quality time you can with everyone.
 
At some point during the weekend when things were a bit quieter at Pine Needle Point, my mom and Jackie were having a little conversation.  My mom was worried that the wheelchair, ramp, and walker were just a bit too much to be lugging around on vacation.  Jackie assured her it wasn’t a problem at all.  My mom commented to Jackie that with all the worry about helping mom and dad, it must be like having two children to deal with.  Then my sister, who always cracks me up with her quick comebacks, tried to assure my mom with these (maybe not so reassuring) words that had the rest of us laughing for a few minutes:  “Mom, you know I ALWAYS wanted kids.  Come on. The wheelchair?  It’s like a stroller.  What’s the difference?”
 
Unleashing the Gospel … Bold New Adventures at SJA:  At last weekend’s masses, I shared the news that we would be embarking on some new, bold, and creative initiatives to help our parish unleash the Gospel.  We will be unleashing the Gospel unlike any way we have done in the past.  For months, our Leadership Team and I have been praying about how the Holy Spirit is calling our parish to unleash the Gospel.  This has been a phenomenal journey of prayer.  As I have mentioned on multiple occasions, Synod 16 and the subsequent work our Archdiocese and Parish have done with the Amazing Parish initiative have been points of transformation for me and my priesthood.  All of these bold initiatives started by Archbishop Vigneron  breathing new life into our Archdiocese, our Central Service offices, and our parishes.  It has been energizing and refreshing to see how the Holy Spirit is moving the hearts of the faithful in our local church of Detroit.  The prayer we recite at the end of every weekend mass is no longer just words.  Our frequent petition to be bold and courageous has borne so much fruit already:  “Above all, grant us the boldness and courage of the apostles to put the mission above all else, so that our community becomes the spark to ignite the fire of divine love that transforms this time and place into the Kingdom of Heaven.”
 
During Synod 16, the Synod participants talked openly about the good and bad habits that affect our ability to unleash the Gospel.  As noted by Archbishop Vigneron in his Pastoral Letter, Unleash the Gospel, “Our bad habits are those attitudes, misunderstandings, or deceptions that hold us back from unleashing the Gospel.”  Five such bad habits stood out in particular at the Synod:  1) A worldly notion of the Church:  “Too often the Church is viewed, even by Catholics, as simply a human institution, and the Catholic faith as merely a lifestyle enhancer.”  We are not civil servants.  The Church BELONGS TO CHRIST and it is HE who directs its missions and activity.  2) Spiritual lethargy:  We can become too easily overwhelmed by the challenges that face us.  It may seem like an uphill battle.  “If our ardor has cooled, let us ask the Lord to touch us once again with burning ember from his altar (cf. Is 16:6) that we may be rekindled in our zeal for him.  3) Status quo mentality.  We become resistant to change.  We have to avoid what Pope Francis says is “the complacent attitude that says: ‘we have always done it this way.’”  We have to be bold and creative in rethinking the goals, structures, styles, and methods of evangelization in our communities.  4) Fear:  We may have a fear of failure or a fear of losing control.  We fear going outside of our comfort zones.  When fear or anxieties influence us, we have to ask the Lord to replace them with apostolic courage.  5) A complaining attitude.  “A common temptation in reaction to problems is to lament that we no longer have the power or prestige we once had.”  We don’t have the money.  We don’t have the staff.  The list goes on and on.  Complaining only leads to discouragement and paralysis.  We need to realize: “I can do all things in him who strengthens me (cf. Phil. 4:13).”
 
To be continued next week!
 
Enjoy the week.  Know of my prayers.
 
In Christ,
 
gmb
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