April 29 & 30, 2023 Homily
On this Good Shepherd Sunday from I Peter, today’s second reading, we hear, “You have returned to your shepherd, the guardian of your soul.” I don’t know about you, but when I go to prayer that’s who I want to go to, the one who knows my heart and helps me catch up with my soul, especially when I’m moving too fast to notice the very thing in front of me, the very person in front of me.
I’d like to talk to you this morning about a decision that I mentioned last weekend at the Masses. It’s a decision which, without prayer and the wisdom of others, would have been difficult if not impossible for me to make on my own. It would have left me too distracted trying “to catch up with my soul.” The decision that falls to me as pastor is about the offer from developers to sell a large portion of our land. “To sell or not to sell, that is the question.”
In the Gospel, Jesus our shepherd tells us to enter the sheepfold through the gate. But which is the right gate? The way I saw it, we have two gates in front of us. One gate leads us to sell our land and pay off our debt. And the other gate leads us to keep our land and keep our debt.
Part of me thought, maybe selling the land is the right gate to go through. If we sell the land, we would no longer be saddled with debt. That, in turn, would free us to do three things important to who we are as a parish. One, we could expand outreach to those in need. Two, we could better provide for the staffing needed to keep pace with our growing parish. And thirdly, we could accelerate much needed improvements on our beloved historic church.
So, these were the things that moved me to share with you last week why I was leaning toward selling the land. My thinking was, “Blessed with this land, why keep the land for ourselves? Let’s share the land with others.”
But before I made that decision, I wanted to hear from you. So I asked for your input. If you support the sale of the land, let me know. If you have concerns over the sale of the land, let me know. And let me know, you did. Over 250 written responses came in and I read them all.
So many of you told me you’d support me in whatever decision that I would make. To know the trust and confidence you have in my leadership is humbling. I’m touched by that. Thank you.
Then, there were those of you who expressed to me concern over the possible sale of the land. Thank you. You did it in a deeply heartfelt and respectful way. And in what you shared, I sensed how difficult it would be for you to see the parish sell land that has been so much a part of our parish’s 166 year history.
“To sell or not to sell, that is the question.” Yes, there are things we could do if we sold the land and were free of debt. And for so many of you in the comments you shared with me, being free of debt was the driving force behind your decision to support the sale of the land. And at the same time, I was reminded of just how much this land means to the heritage of our parish. The land is a symbol of our roots, our forebearers who gave so much with the little they had.
As I thought and prayed about all of this, this came to mind for me. Yes, we’re on pace to pay off the debt in less than five years. But think of the good we could do if we were able to pay off the debt in less than five years, say in one year?
Then we could expand our outreach ministries to those in need, needs that don’t have to wait five years. Then we could provide the staffing needed for our growing parish, staffing needs that don’t have to wait five years. Then we could accelerate the much needed improvements to our beloved historic church, improvements that may not be able to wait for five years.
But then, it came to me. Is selling the land the only way to retire the debt this year? Or, is there another way, another gate that the sheepfold could go through? I believe there is. What if we, as a parish family, were to keep the land and take on retiring the debt all on our own and make that our goal for the coming year? I know. That’s a tall order. But if we all roll up our sleeves with a willingness for each of us to make the sacrificial gift we’re capable of, I think we can do it.
And the fruit of your gift? It’d honor our past while securing our future. It’s what the parish did back in 1998 when we decided to build a new church while keeping the old one, our beloved historic church. And, it’s what we can do again today by retiring the debt while still owning the land.
So, for me, it comes down to this question. If our debt were already paid for, would there even be a need or a desire to sell our land? I don’t think so. So, with this in mind, I’ve come to a decision. I am NOT accepting the offer to sell our land. Instead, in keeping our land I’d like this to be the occasion for an all-out parish effort to retire the debt all on our own, ideally within a year.
In 2001, we were a parish of only 500 families raising $7 million to build a new church. Today, we are a parish of over 1,500 families needing only $700,000 to pay off our church debt. It’s within our reach. Together, I know we can do this.
More about that in the coming weeks. But for now, back to how I started this homily. The invitation is always the same. “Return to your shepherd, the guardian of your soul.” May we know the care of that Shepherd, the guardian of our souls. And in the challenges and opportunities that life brings, may we as a parish trust that as God has in the past, that God our shepherd, the guardian of our souls, will continue to bless us many times over in the weeks, and months, and years to come.
