My friends, there is much joy and rejoicing in
today’s scriptures. It is not a giddy kind of joy, but a sober one. It
is a deep kind of joy. As I gather with you for this Mass, on this first
weekend as your new pastor, I share in that deep joy.
I must
admit that I rejoice with you today in a somewhat sober kind of way. I
am humbled by this responsibility to serve you. I come here as your
pastor as one who was a parishioner here. I come here knowing and having
experienced how unique and special this community of faith is.
I come here having admired and rejoiced in the leadership of Fr. Ryan
for the past almost four decades. His friendship, his support and
encouragement of me from when we met twenty-five years ago to this very
day means more to me than I can put into words. He has been my pastor
and continues to be my pastor.
Yes, I come to this celebration
with deep joy today. But, like the returned exiles that Isaiah is
encouraging in today’s first reading, and the 72 that Jesus is
encouraging in today’s Gospel, it is a sober kind of joy.
Is it
a sober joy because I know the quality of ministry and the quality of
leadership that I inherit and I’m conscious of not wanting to mess that
up? Yes, I know there is some of that there for me.
Is it
because while I have been a pastor for 15 years, I’ve never been a
pastor of a cathedral before? Yes, that certainly makes this a sober
kind of joy when I realize all that I have to learn about being a
cathedral pastor.
Is my joy a sober kind of joy because after
having helped to lead and continuing to help lead the Partners in the
Gospel effort on an archdiocesan level, now I have to actually pastor a
parish family? Now I have to put into practice all those things I have
been telling other pastors they need to do. Yes, sobering indeed.
Sobering, yes, but also filled with joy. It is such a privilege to serve
as your pastor and the pastor of Immaculate Conception and Christ our
Hope. I am excited to get to know you better as we explore how we can,
as a parish, and as a parish family, fulfill the commission of Jesus to
the 72 in today’s gospel - the commission to announce the presence and
the power of the kingdom of God.
We do that in so many ways here at the cathedral.
Through beautiful liturgy, gathered in a profoundly beautiful place, we
get a glimpse of that kingdom, that reign of God where “All the earth
cries out to God with joy.” (Psalm 66)
Through the wholistic
formation of children, young people and adults, we help to shape this
community of faith in the values of the kingdom of God. Through our
outreach ministries to those on the margins, we become the hands and
feet of Christ, bringing the presence of God to those people and places
where God’s healing and loving presence is so needed.
We do
those things and many more so well here. And my friends, given the state
of our city, our state, our country and our world, we have much more
work to do in advancing the reign of God’s love, mercy and justice. The
harvest is indeed abundant and the laborers are few.
And while
the Lord has given us power to tread upon the serpents and scorpions of
injustice and violence, and we know that ultimately justice and peace
will triumph, we have a responsibility to be with those who suffer in
this in between time.
During this time after the Lord’s coming
and before the final consummation of his victory in the new and eternal
Jerusalem, the Lord sends us to be with and advocate for those who
suffer so unjustly the sins against their human dignity.
Like
those 72 who returned from their first mission, let us rejoice for all
that we have done, and for all that has been, here at St. James
Cathedral. And let us recommit ourselves to the work that lies ahead.
Let us join with our brothers and sisters at Christ Our Hope
and Immaculate Conception to extend the comfort and the abundance of
God’s love to those most in need here on First Hill, in downtown
Seattle, and in the Central District.
Let us continue and
expand our work with our ecumenical and interfaith partners in
advocating for policies in our city, state and country that serve the
needs of the many who are poor and vulnerable instead of the wants of
the few who are rich and secure.
Let us, as the Cathedral
Church of the Archdiocese of Seattle, advance the unifying mission and
ministry of Archbishop Etienne as he calls us to be partners in the
Gospel and more effective witnesses to the Good News of Jesus Christ.
As we gather around the Table of the Eucharist now, we do so
rejoicing for all that has been. At this sacred altar of thanksgiving,
we bring the joy of having accomplished so much, and the sobriety of
knowing there is so much more to do.
We come here knowing that
the real source of our rejoicing is not just in all the work we have
accomplished, and all that is left to do, but in the communion we have
with the Lord and with one another.
May our sharing in the Body
and Blood of Christ today deepen that communion and send us from here
with a deep joy, an infectious joy - a joy that can change lives and the
life of our world.
Father Gary F. Lazzeroni, Pastor
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