I looked up the definition of an orphan, and it said, “a child whose parents are dead.” And so in the Gospel for this weekend, our Lord Jesus states “I will not leave you orphaned; I will come to you."
For more than 40 years now, Prince of Peace has been blessed, as our Lord has indeed come to us and has given another Advocate to be with us always. God has always called all in His Church to be brothers and sisters; part of a family with shared responsibilities, yet with differing tasks. Each parish is made up of many different and varied people and leaders with different gifts and talents. The same is true with the leaders of our Church: The Pope, Bishops, Priests, Deacons, parents and
all the baptized. We have different gifts and talents, and when they all come together in the spirit and are shared, the Church can thrive.
I am now completing my 9th year here at Prince of Peace. The first three years as the Associate Pastor from 1995-1998, and now as Pastor for the past six years. When I was here in the 90s, Fr. George Bertels was Pastor and he succeeded
Fr. Charles Andalikiewicz and Msgr. Bob Bergman as the third Pastor. After Fr. George, came Fr. Frank Burger, Fr. Bill Bruning and then me. God has definitely never left our parish orphaned even in terms of priestly pastoral leadership. And God will continue to care for our parish as a new pastor arrives here on July 1st.
I had quite an adjustment coming to Prince of Peace parish, which was three times the size of the one I left. There have been many transitions since I have been here, especially as our parish gave birth to the newest Olathe parish, St. John Paul II. These have been six good years, but also six difficult years for me personally. I have been anxious about many things and I’ve been encouraged to remember that the parish is what it makes itself to be, and there is only so much that any pastor can do about it -- it is in your hands, but really it’s not; it’s in God’s hands. We are not orphaned because God's not dead and He is in charge. I believe, and continue to believe, that a parish is so much more than the pastor and its priests. It is the entire community that sets the tone for whether it will thrive or just survive. Sometimes, such as during these days of the Pandemic, some might say it is good enough to survive, but our community has done so much more and Olathe has been reminded that our parish is ‘together in spirit’. Now, as we slowly reopen, we can all move forward to new things and
new challenges.
The first letter of St. Peter this weekend says that we should “always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.” Therefore, it is easy for me, as I prepare to transition to Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Lawrence, KS as their new pastor, to give you great reason to hope. My reason for hope for all of us, is that just as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, God is alive and He is leading us and caring for us. He has his loving arms around Prince of Peace and me, and every one of us.
This is not the manner of which I wanted to let you know of my upcoming departure, but these days call for such measures. I hope to have some kind of opportunity to say farewell and receive your blessing as well as give you mine before June 30. Please pray for me and your new pastor and know that I pray for you. God is alive and well!