Looking back, looking ahead

“I don’t know where time goes!” I am sure many reading these words readily understand what I mean! “Time flies!” As I express this sentiment, I am about to be interviewed for a podcast focusing on my seventh anniversary as your diocesan bishop. I was given some questions to reflect upon, but I confess so much of the last year seems like a blur that to focus on it seems to be an exercise in futility.

Yet, the one thought that keeps popping up is that through it all God has been there whether I realized it or not. I know it to be so because many of my encounters with the faithful of the diocese occurred in celebrations of the sacraments. This particular aspect of my episcopal, priestly, and diaconal ministry is so precious to me and is where I get re-energized. It is also to be seen when I unexpectedly received a pacemaker in early March. I marvel at my obliviousness to such a need, but how God just navigated me through it all! I remember the great peace as well that I had going into surgery, especially after receiving the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.

So, has anything changed in my life because of these God moments? Schedule-wise, not so much. But prayer-wise, yes, it has! What I discovered over the last few months is a daily need to till, aerate, and water the soil of my relationship with God and grow in community/communion with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is something I purposefully set time aside each day to do now more than ever, and the greatest threat to it is distractions or the temptation to put other things first.

I don’t think it is a coincidence that recently I came across a book by the Catholic author, Matthew Kelly, Life is Messy (2021).  In the opening pages of the book, he quotes E. B. White from Charlotte’s Web: “There is no limit to how complicated things can get on account of one thing always leading to another.”

In fact, Kelly introduces the topic by saying: “The mess of life is both inevitable and unexpected. It is filled with delightful mysteries and frustrating predicaments, indescribable joy and heart-wrenching suffering.” He goes on to state: “It’s what we do with the mess that determines everything. You can ignore it, avoid it, deny it, blame others, shame yourself, and exhaust yourself pretending your life isn’t messy. But when you wake tomorrow morning, the mess will still be there. Or you can realize the mess serves a powerful purpose.”

This last idea of serving “a powerful purpose” is something I am reflecting ever more upon as the messiness of life is a constant challenge for me in these days. It calls me to confront my own inadequacies, but even more to give over to God the things confronting me. I find myself asking the question, “What would Jesus say or do?” In truth, this has led me to more purposeful living and interaction with God and neighbor, hoping not for just greater unity in building the Kingdom of God, but greater unity in self between body, mind, and spirit.

The episcopal motto of Pope Leo XIV is, “In illo uno unum” — “In Him who is One (Christ), we are one.” These days more than ever, I am praying for such unity to be found in the Catholic Church. Yet, it cannot just be found in words, but in a mindset and way of life that is lived out from the very heart of the Church to its peripheries

This leads me to the last reflection in Kelly’s Life is Messy. He states that, “There is no secret to the good life. No exceptional talent is required.” He then asks, “What is the essential ingredient of the good life?” And he goes on to answer, “Goodness itself. The secret to the so-called good life has always been right before our very eyes. If you wish to live the good life, fill your life with goodness. Fill your life with love, kindness, gratitude, compassion, and generosity … Celebrate goodness every chance you get.”

As I begin my eighth year of service to the Diocese of Syracuse, these are two themes I would like to flesh out more: Unity and goodness. I will continue to bring them to prayer and ask you to pray about them as well. Together, may we be that living Gospel for all people to hear and together bring forth the Kingdom of God.  God’s blessings, and continue to enjoy the summer!