Summer, 2020
 
Dear Parishioners of St. John the Baptist, St. Hubert’s and St. Mary’s:
 
When I was a boy and made the mistake of complaining that something wasn’t “fair” my dad would patiently say in Swedish what translates as, “A man cannot change his fate.”  Those of Scandinavian descent will resonate with this unapologetically stoic, “Viking” mentality.  There are things over which I have no control except how I choose to respond to them.  Here in the Western states we have a similar saying, “You got to play the hand you were dealt as best you can.”  One has no control over the cards one gets, but one can and must make the best use of what one was given.  As one who tries to be a disciple of Jesus I find my dad’s advice as wise and valid as ever. 
          Many today believe that we are essentially good.  Common sense and experience, however, quickly betrays that lie.  Some argue we are essentially evil, rotten to the core, void of the slightest shred of goodness.  Again, common sense and experience tells us that too is wrong.  We are neither essentially good nor essentially evil.  We are essentially screwed up creatures that do the things we do not want to do and do not do the things we know we should do. This is the mystery of how sin distorts our nature, our relationship with God, and indeed infects the fabric of the universe.  We are fallen, screwed up creatures living in a fallen, screwed up universe where bad things happen.  Our only control is how we will respond to them.
            I find the Psalms to be particularly helpful guides, comforting reminders that no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in God remains faithful to us. 
          Consider Psalm 51, one of my favorites ever since it was given to me as a penance.  The psalmist suffers from some kind of illness.  Curiously, he does not ask for physical healing.  He asks instead for moral healing: “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin!  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.  Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in Thy sight…”  The psalmist recognized in his physical illness, as horrible as it must have been, that what was far more serious was his inner moral disorder and the barrier it created between God and himself.  Please note that nowhere does he say his sin created his illness.  He makes two conclusions.  First, the truly deadly illness is his distorted relationship with God.  Second, there is a treatment: “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.”  Are we allowing the current crisis to be a time of looking at our relationship with God?
          Consider Psalm 77.  The psalmist does not reveal what ails him, allowing us to inject our personal situation into the psalm.  The psalmist is in deep distress.  He questions God’s justice and love.  Don’t we do the same when we are immersed in chaos, especially when it is something we did not create, when it is not fair?  The psalmist does something we moderns avoid.  He remembers the history of his people and how God was always there, even in their moments of infidelity.  We tend to forget our history, the struggles, deprivations and sacrifices previous generations endured.  We give little thought to God working in and through those times.  This only serves to impoverish us.  It is in the psalmist's act of remembering the history his people have with God that he dares to confidently hope that just as God was present in the past He is present in the psalmist’s moment of history.  Will we allow ourselves to remember and find comfort in the truth that God is present in our moment?
          If my dad were alive he would tell me, yet again, “A man cannot change his fate.”  Many find this “Viking” rhetoric unappealing, perhaps un-Christian.  I find it liberating.  I cannot change the reality of this disease, what it may do to my family or friends, what it may do to the economy or the political order.  What I can do is choose to turn to God, to make my relationship with Him more important than the chaos engulfing us.  What I can do is choose to recognize that while my fallen, screwed up nature inclines me to self-interest my relationship with God empowers me, every disciple and every person of good will to make choices that go beyond the self to the service of others.  A deepening, renewed relationship with God empowers one to see that He is not absent but very much present in this moment of our history, inspiring us to rise above the chaos, bringing out the best within us. And this gives us what we need most: hope.  
          Hang in there Church.  We’re going to make it.

                         Yours in Christ,
                          Fr. Pete