Sunday, February 8, 2015

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - February 8, 2015

Imagine a small child trying to tie his shoes or do some other task. Mom offers to help him, but the boy says, “Mother, please! I can do it myself.” Mom is proud of her child for learning to do things for himself, but she knows that at some point she is going to have to come in and help him when he discovers something that he cannot do for himself.

Our society puts a great deal of value on our being able to do things for ourselves. But as the poet John Dunne wrote, “No man is an island, entire of itself.” We all need help at times. Or, in the words of a couple of other British poets (Lennon & McCartney), “I get by with a little help from my friends.” As part of the Church, we belong to a great community of faith. We are here to support one another. As a parish, we offer community, service, formation in faith and, above all, worship. Of course we are part of a larger community. To be Catholic, we are to be in communion with the bishop, who is head of the local Church. Beyond that, of course, our understanding is that the bishop is in communion with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, which makes us part of a universal Church. But for today I would like to remember our connection with the Church of Pittsburgh, which forms a broader community for us here at St. Malachy while still being local enough that we can truly see how we affect the whole community.

Next week I will want to write about the upcoming beginning of Lent, but next Sunday is also the beginning of another year of the diocesan Parish Share Program. This is a way in which we support the work of the entire diocese. The diocese supports a number of efforts that we could not manage on our own. For instance, our parish helps the poor with our St. Vincent de Paul Society, but there are many efforts to support the poor that go beyond our means. For those purposes, our Parish Share funds Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. St. Malachy promotes Catholic education through our wonderful school and CCD programs, and we work with St. John of God Parish – as the diocese encourages parishes to work together – in youth ministry (along with their support of our school). But no parish or cluster of parishes could support the education of seminarians preparing for the priesthood. So we work together through PSP.

By helping the diocese, we also help ourselves. The diocese assesses each parish based on its previous year’s income. Anything we raise for Parish Share over and above our assessment stays with the parish. Moreover, excess Parish Share funds are not counted toward next year’s assessment. That money is “tax exempt,” so to speak. So if we can make the PSP program a success for the diocese, it helps our parish.

Soon you will be receiving a letter from me concerning this year’s Parish Share. Please pray over the request and offer what you can to help us help others.
                                                                   Father H