Healing presence

Today's schedule began with the celebration of Mass. The scripture readings for today proved to be extremely providential for the time that would lay before us during this day.

His Excellency, Richard Grecco, Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto presided at the Mass this morning, and provided a wonderful reflection on the scripture readings proper to this day. In particular, he focused on the fact that the word 'mystery' is mentioned repeatedly during the first reading from the letter to the Ephesians. From here, he invited us to reflect upon the reality that who we are as priests, and the work we do in living out the gift of our priesthood is not at all about earthly measures of success, but rather the living out of a mystery which is revealed to us as a gift from God himself. All we can do is to participate in this mystery - a reality which calls us to serve generously and at the same time challenges us to be rooted in faith and the truth of the gospel as we call God's people to follow in the footsteps of the Master.

Today was a day for looking backward and forward, and for giving thanks. As it turned out, today was about effecting healing, but more about that later in this post.

The mid-week day follows a somewhat different schedule from the rest of our normal pace during the NFPC National Assembly. Following the completion of the Mass, we moved into a working session during which Father Brennan (the same speaker who led yesterday's reflections) facilitated a discussion among the gathered representatives aimed at evaluating our present mandate. This morning was about asking the question, 'are we truly responding to the needs of the Church in Canada today?'

For the past number of years, the NFPC has continued to do some very good work, particularly in the field of providing resources to assist in the well-being of priests. There comes a time in the life of all healthy organizations when we must revisit the aims and purposes for our existence and honestly ask ourselves if we are responding to the original expectations or whether the perceived needs have changed due to other factors in the modern-day situation.

We therefore began the session by prayerfully considering the words of the NFPC's vision statement, and asking ourselves if we are still comfortable with this wording in the light of the realities faced by the priests in Canada today. Then we reviewed the 'blessed history', the story of our beginnings as well as the major twists and turns along the road of faith that has brought us to this moment. This latter exercise was helpful both for newcomers (a fair number of the delegates who are here in Victoria have only been involved with the NFPC for a very short time) and for veterans alike.

Having reviewed both our lived history and the wording of the vision statement, we then spent a considerable amount of time revisiting the effectiveness of our work and asking the necessary questions so that we might begin to assess our own effectiveness in terms of reaching the goals set forth in the vision statement.

This is hard work, and it needs time to mature and percolate in the minds and hearts of our members so that the truth about where we need to concentrate our efforts in the coming days, weeks and months will be made clear.

Thankfully, we had only scheduled a morning of work on this topic for the day - each of us needed to unwind after this intensive but necessary exercise. It was therefore a blessing that the schedule permitted an afternoon and evening off from the regular routine of the week. Many of us took advantage of the afternoon (and some the evening as well) to enjoy the sights and sounds of this charming city.

As fate (or provindence) would allow, a few of us found our way to a well-known local eatery tonight which has existed for more years than many of us would like to count. In addition to the neighbourhood feel of the restaurant - one not unlike what I picture the fictitious Cheers bar must have been like - we were also treated to a soul-filled concert of music which made our hearts sing.

The Jewish tradition believes strongly in the principle of mitzvah, that is the understanding that often without knowing or realizing it, we partake in doing good or providing a healing experience for someone else. The fact that someone participates in a mitzvah also becomes a blessing for the one who unknowingly participates.

All we wanted to do tonight was visit a local eatery and enjoy a wonderful evening. As it turns out, we were to participate in a mitzvah which was meant to heal the souls of those who had this morning taken part in a very difficult moment in our history, revisiting some key reasons for the existence of the NFPC. We also were thanked for providing a blessing to the unknowing participants who were present tonight to provide live entertainment for the restaurant patrons.

One of the things I cherish about my involvement with the NFPC is the fact that those who sit at our table are keenly aware of the joys and struggles of the clergy in this country, and our thirst for healing, both in our own lives and in the lives of those we serve. Tonight was a living example of healing lived out for the benefit of those who had experienced a day filled with challenges and many blessings, and the best part of it is that in the end, unknowingly, our 'elder brothers in faith' played a part in the healing process. If only such moments were more abundant, perhaps we would be that much further along the path of dialogue with others, benefiting from their wisdom, and sharing our own.

For the gift of being able to participate in the mystery of God which constantly surrounds us, we stand in awe and give thanks.