Homily – June 2, 2024

Today is the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. In today’s Gospel passage from Mark, we hear the story of the first Eucharist. In this we have the link between the priesthood of the Old Testament and the priesthood of the New Testament.

 

In the old priesthood, Moses offers the sacrifice of the blood of young bulls. In the new priesthood, Jesus offers the sacrifice of his blood on the cross. It’s a gift celebrated as we in share in the body and blood of Christ in Eucharist.

 

As a priest, it’s been my privilege to preside at Eucharist for the last fifty years. What I like about coming up on my fiftieth anniversary is that it has given me the opportunity to say one big fat thank you to all who have supported me along the way. Whether you know it or not, each of you have been there to support me in what I do. So, thank you!

 

From June 2, 1974, the day I was ordained to June 2, 2024, it’s gone fast but it’s covered some ground. When I first started, I was so young that I was barely shaving. And now I’ve been at it so long that I have former altar boys with receding hairlines!

 

And of course, there’s been the learning lessons along the way. I had just arrived at my second assignment at St. Mark’s in St. Paul. One afternoon I decided to go for a jog, but being the new guy I didn’t want people to see me, so I snuck out the back alley behind the rectory. When I got back, there was a letter waiting for me. It read, “Fr. White, we don’t think a priest should be running through back alleys in his shorts. (Signed)  Mrs. Willbur.”

 

I was steamed. The next day, I bring the letter to a staff meeting as evidence of what a kook Mrs. Willbur is. “Who does she think she is, anyway? If I want to take a jog it’s none of her business! And I’ll do it in my shorts if I want to!”

 

At this, the whole staff breaks out laughing hysterically. Turns out Sr. Bridget McDonald, who was one of the staff and was always up to mischief, had written the letter and I bit hook, line and sinker. So, lesson number one if you’re going to survive in ministry, “Thou shalt not take thy self too seriously!” There would be other lessons that’d come later.

 

When I get together with my family they ask, “How’s the parish?” And I tell them, “Great!” But fill in the blanks, that’s harder. There’s so much that comes at you in the parish it’s hard to keep track of it all. On certain weeks it’s like trying to drink from a fire hose. It comes at you fast and furious. It’s everything from the very intense to the incredibly wonderful.

 

To me, being a parish priest is like having a backstage pass to people’s lives. You get invited in on some of the most intimate, personal and intense moments of people’s lives. It may leave you feeling a bit drained but somehow always all the more alive.

 

As a young priest, I was I lucky enough to have incredible mentors. At my first assignment at Our Lady of the Lake in Mound my pastor was Fr. Paul Dudley, later to be named a bishop. He had a zeal and joy that told me just how much he loved being a parish priest.

 

At my second parish at St. Mark’s in St. Paul my pastor was Fr. John Brandes, a champion of the poor. He taught me that if you’re going to really meet people where they’re at, you need to let go of any hint of entitlement or superiority. Like Fr. Dudley,

he also was rumored to be a bishop.

 

I’m sure having me as their young new associate, both had their work cut out reigning me in at times.  But as they did that, they taught me. They taught me what it means to pastor with passion. They taught me what it means to be a man of God while yet being a man of the people. And they taught me that priesthood is not lived out of a vacuum, that we priests can’t do it alone, and how God’s grace works through people like you.

 

Toward the end of their lives, I saw both Dudley and Brandes as mystics. They knew how to live with paradox and so embrace life even when it didn’t seem to make sense.

 

It’s interesting. I ask older priests how they feel about life after all those years as a priest. They all seem to say the same thing, “God has been so good to me.” I feel the same. In looking back over fifty years I’d have to say, “God has been so good to me.”

 

So, what gets in the way of a priest being a servant leader? There’s a legend about the donkey that Jesus rode in his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. As the crowds began cheering for Jesus and crying out, “Hosanna in the highest,” the donkey thought the applause was for him. So, the donkey starts prancing around like he’s the big deal.

 

Well, if like that donkey you see me looking for applause and prancing around like I’m the big deal, report me to the bishop immediately. I can’t think of a better way of making a donkey’s ass of myself!

 

So, what is the unique role of the priest? We priests are like the guy who wears the sandwich board. We’re not the “main act”. We’re pointing to the “main act”. And it’s not us. It’s Jesus, the one we follow. That mantle of priesthood we’re called to wear, if worn humbly it leads to a ministry of authenticity. If not worn in that way it leads to a self-serving ministry.

 

After almost twenty-eight years at St. Victoria what am I grateful for? I’m grateful for the parish staff who make it possible for me to do my ministry at St. Victoria. I’m grateful for my health that makes it possible for me to keep up with my ministry at St. Victoria. And I’m grateful for you as a parish family who make it possible for me to thrive in my ministry at St. Victoria.

 

It was back in January of 2000 when my eyes went bad on me. When that happened, I wasn’t sure if I could continue with my ministry at St. Victoria. But as a parish family you rallied around me and made it work. It speaks to who you are. Thank you!

 

And as I like to say, “If we priests get converted it’s the people who help get us there.” You help smooth out our rough edges. And with the Holy Spirit working through you, you help shape us into who we’re called to be as ministers of the Gospel. I’m looking forward to being your pastor in the years to come. And again, thank you for doing what you do to make St. Victoria the parish it is.