Franciscan priest, Murray Bodo, once said, “God’s love, when it comes to us through other people, overwhelms us so. The reason is, I think, that God is always more convincing enfleshed, and that is what incarnation is all about. The incarnation was not a once upon a time event. It re-occurs each time we find God in another human being. People like you and me are, in fact, the Body of Christ.”
Earlier this month, hundreds of Kansas Citians gathered at Blue Hills Country Club to celebrate our faith and the fact that, together, we can put it into action by helping others. I am overwhelmed by the many people who joyfully assist me in ministry with urban parishes and impoverished citizens. As a follow-up to our successful fundraiser, I’ll host a Mass of Thanksgiving this Sunday (October 25) at the Farnan Spirituality Center at 1:00—followed by snacks and drinks. Friends have asked if they can drop off food for inner city pantries or clothes for Morning Glory or Troost-39 Thrift Shop that day. The answer, as always, is ‘Yes.’
Next Thursday, October 29, as we approach the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls, I will join fraternity brothers at Rockhurst University’s Alvin Brooks Center to offer Mass at 12:15 for deceased members and pay tribute to Loved Ones on the other side of life. It is a great blessing for me to reconnect with fellow alum and a grace to encourage and support students who are where we once were. Former Jesuit Superior Peter-Hans Kolvenbach’s words are imprinted on the campus quad: “You are called to be men and women who reflect upon the reality of the world around you with all its ambiguities, opportunities, and challenges to discern what is really happening in your life and in the lives of others, to find God there and to discover where God is calling you, to employ criteria for significant choices that reflect godly values rather than narrow, exclusive self-interest, to make decisions in the light of what is truly for the greater glory of God and the service of those in need—and then to act accordingly.” Most people educated in the Jesuit tradition grasp the impact of his teaching while seeking to become men and women dedicated to creating a better society.
On the following Thursday, November 5, Alvin Brooks will join us to inaugurate the Month of Thanksgiving at the same time and place as we offer gratitude for the loving legacy that he has bestowed upon our city. Like many, I am in awe of “the old man” and his seemingly tireless energy as he imitates Christ’s corporal works of mercy. Like Jesus, Alvin has accompanied countless people in their moments of suffering, offering encouragement and hope. He reminds many of us, as author Herman Melville once said, “We cannot live for ourselves alone, for our lives are connected by a thousand threads; and along those sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.” The results of his efforts have been mighty.
Feel free to attend any of these Eucharistic gatherings. And if you want to go deeper in your personal prayer in the weeks ahead, join me for a two-hour mini retreat on the spirituality of saints as guides on October 30, November 3, or November 11. As October turns to November and we examine the lives of saints, it is a good time to recall that they are mere people who bring God’s love to us, a good time to recall that we are to be men and women for others, and a good time to recall that there are a thousand threads that connect us on earth as well as to heaven beyond.