Sunday, June 1, 2025 – The Ascension of Our Lord
Back on May 11 in this reflection I gave the parish a homework assignment to view two commercials on YouTube regarding communication styles. Then two weeks ago, Father John Klobuka, in his homily gave us a homework assignment with two questions: 1) Who is the person you know who demonstrates love and the Christian life the best to you and 2) What is the most Christian/loving/caring act you have ever done? Well, as they say, “what is good for the goose is also good for the gander.” So, I decided to respond to Father John’s assignment and then reflect on the connection between the two questions.
Who witness the Christian life the best? There are many who fall into this category, but I will need to name my younger sister Rita. Now, my two brothers and two sisters are all fine people, but Rita seems to stand out. When she was in the first grade, her teacher once told my Mom that she wished she had a full classroom of Ritas. She has always had a good heart would stop what she was doing to help anyone. She does read up on Catholic topics and is involved in the life of her parish. Recently she has become a Eucharist Minister. She would have made a wonderful religious sister, but she is now a wonderful grandmother. She puts me to shame.
What was the most Christian act I have done? The following is not necessarily a religious action, but here it is. When I was in Cleveland on my first stay at St. Aloysius Parish, one winter morning as I was running out the door our pastor, Father Paul Marshall stopped me and asked me if I would be willing to take the lead/run the parish’s Monte Carlo/Casino Night which was just two weeks away. This event had slipped off the Pastoral Staff’s radar screen and it was dangerously close. I, with little hesitation said “yes.” I had worked with this event in past years but never took the lead. I worked hard for roughly the next fourteen days and pulled it off and it was one of the most successful ones the parish had—by the grace of God. In one sense, my “yes” was a crazy and reckless response to pull off a parish fundraiser in two weeks. But, it somehow worked with the additional cooperation and good will of many St. Al’s parishioners.
The connection between Father John’s two questions can be summed up by saying that good people prompt good actions and behaviors. Love shown behooves love given. There is something very contagious about this. When we are loved and made to feel good and valued, it is with little hesitation that we respond to others in the same manner. I would suggest that to maintain an ongoing loving response, in our prayer life and in how we see God working in others, we recognize and feel God’s love and compassion for us. If we acknowledge this, that love will be received, accepted with gratitude, and shared. It is not rocket science!