October 18, The Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
At the outset of my annual retreat at the Jesuit Spiritual Center a few weeks ago, during the orientation, the retreat leaders offered a number of recreational activities for the twenty-seven of us making the retreat. One of the activities was the “Community Puzzle.” The community puzzle is a 500 to1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. At the beginning, one person starts constructing the puzzle, but others can join in at various times during the retreat to complete the entire puzzle. It is not a one-person job—it is a community effort—the work of many hands, minds and skills.
The community puzzle is a wonderful metaphor to teach us how to address the problems and issues of our time. The challenges of our world offer great complexity and are often too challenging for a single person to tackle and solve. The best results come from a community effort and a joint venture of many minds.
In comprising a group of experts, we need a diversified collection of knowledgeable people with different skill sets to solve the puzzles confronting us. This composition of skills should include: 1) those who know how to set proper limits and boundaries—those who can work the edges and the periphery of the puzzle or issue; 2) those who can do the more mondaine or boring details—the solid colors of the background of the picture of the puzzle; and 3) those in the know who can do the complicated detail work and complexities of the project—the interior of the puzzle with all its shapes and details.
As a parish community, one priest or one parishioner cannot make St. Francis de Sales, or any parish, a strong worship community. At our parish, neither can the Pastoral Team of Father Mike and Brother Paul nor our office staff solely do it. It also takes committed members willing to serve on committees with various skills to bring about a vibrant parish and make the many details of parish life function well. The Parish Pastoral Council and Finance Council are critical for the growth and stability of our parish; and we thank them for their hard work. Also, the organizing and staging of our annual parish picnic or a “Brunch n’ Learn” require a team of people for a successful outcome. As the old saying goes, “Many hands make light work.”
Allow me to take this opportunity to invite our parishioners to join parish committees and organizations to address our projects and the “puzzles” the parish needs to address. Your skills and time would be greatly appreciated.
We pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance as our world addresses the many issues aka puzzles of our time. May God inspire groups of committed individuals motivated to take what has been broken in many pieces, or what need to be constructed from scratch to make our world whole for the good of all.