Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I am Fr. Satish Joseph. I am originally from India. I was ordained in India on the 25th of April 1994. After travelling the length and breadth of the country for five years preaching parish missions and facilitating many retreats, I arrived in the US on June 6, 2000. My goal was to pursue my master’s in communication at the University of Dayton. Immaculate Conception Church opened its doors to me and I have live there since.
In 2002, after completing my masters, I continued with my Ph.D in Theology. I successfully completed the doctoral program in 2010. Along with the then Pastor Fr. Anthony Geraci, I got very involved with the parish ministry at Immaculate Conception Parish. When he became the Pastor of another parish in 2008, I was appointed associate pastor to Fr. David Brinkmoeller at Immaculate Conception and St. Helen parishes. Because of the shortage of priests, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati had moved to a regional concept of organizing parishes. In 2016, when the Pastor retired, (since then he has passed away) I was appointed Pastor of Immaculate Conception and St. Helen Parishes. In twenty years, the reality of the parishes had changed – from two priests in one parish to one priest in two parishes.
Today, I stand before you also as Pastor of St. Mary’s Parish along with Immaculate Conception and St. Helen parishes. As I do so, I am aware that today I am becoming part of the history and tradition of a community that has carried forward a long history and holy tradition since 1859. I am also aware of the growth and amalgamation of the Hispanic Catholic community into the history and tradition of St. Mary’s. I want to respect, honor, and uphold this history and tradition. I want to thank all the pastors, and especially Fr. Francis Tandoh, for continuing the rich heritage that is St. Mary’s.
As I read the history of the parish on the website, I learnt of the great presence this parish has been in the region. I also became aware of the many changes that St. Mary’s has had to endure - Vatican II, the effects of the construction of US-35, the demographic changes as people moved to the suburbs, and the closing of the school. But as the history reads, “St. Mary’s is a parish the refused to die.” My goal, together with you, is to ensure that this community will continue to be the presence of Christ in this neighborhood for generations to come. Our challenges are many. But as days, weeks, and years pass, we must enter many conversations about how we can accomplish this goal along with the Archdiocese and in partnership with the family of parishes. As pastor, I assure you that I will be at the forefront of these conversations. I also assure you that I will love the community, honor the community, respect the community, and walk with the community in the way that Jesus the Good Shepherd expects his pastors to do.
Before I go further, I want to draw inspiration from today’s scripture readings.
In the first reading, the people of God stood at a very critical juncture of their life. As a free and nascent nation, they were on the way to the Promised Land. Even though a promising future lay ahead of them, the journey to their free and secure future was fraught with difficulties and challenges. It is truly intriguing that they were willing to compromise their freedom and return back to slavery simply because they did not want to endure the present hardships.
Today, I see, not just St. Mary’s, but the entire Archdiocese of Cincinnati in the same place in which the people of Israel found themselves. We have our past, we have our present, and a promising future lies ahead. Just like the Israelites who left Egypt, we cannot be what we have been, and the future cannot be captured as in a photograph. But we have the present in our hands. But more importantly, the Lord is with us as we carry our history and tradition forward. I cannot promise you that history will not compel us to deal with the challenges that lie before us. But within every challenge lies an opportunity.
Today, our challenges and opportunities are the same.
- Our challenge is to be a family with other parishes and our opportunity is to be a family of parishes.
- Our challenge is to be a multi-ethnic community and our opportunity is to be a multi-ethnic community.
- Our challenge is to imagine ourselves in new ways and our opportunity is to imagine ourselves in new ways.
- Our challenge is to surrender our fears to the Lord, and our opportunity lies in surrendering our fears to the Lord.
- Our challenge is to walk toward the future with faith and hope, and our opportunity is to walk forward in faith and hope.
I believe that as long as we allow God to lead us, we will find ourselves in a good and holy place – our Promised Land.
Today’s gospel reading is also helpful for us. The people in today’s gospel reading were following Jesus after he had multiplied loaves for them. They were following Jesus because Jesus had given them bread. But Jesus wanted to take them deeper into faith. So Jesus says to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me… because you ate the loaves and were filled” (Jn 6:26). Then he invites them to go deeper says to them, “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life…” (Jn 6:27). Today, just like the people of Jesus’ time, we are being invited to follow Christ more deeply than where we find ourselves. Today particularly, we are being invited to follow Jesus not in the way that we want to follow Jesus but in the way that Jesus wants us to follow Jesus. There is a big difference between the two.
As we begin a new era in our existence as the family of parishes of St. Mary’s, Immaculate Conception and St. Helen, let us pray that we will not be afraid to embrace the future. After all, we are God’s people and God is the one who leads us toward our destiny.
Before I end, I would like to invite you to a Town Hall meeting at Immaculate Conception Church on August 18, 2021. I would like to present more clearly the concept of “family of parishes” and answer any question you might have about what this means for each of our three parishes.
As we celebrate this Eucharist, let us place ourselves and our parishes in God’s holy hands. Just as God led the people of Israel to the Promised Land, and just as Jesus led people to deeper faith, let us pray that we will allow God to do the same with us. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph