The Bishop Writes

(From the February 28, 2002 edition of the Inland Register)

A few weeks ago, Father Jim McGreevy, the pastor of the parishes in Ritzville, Sprague, Washtucna, and Lind, indicated he could not take care of the parishes the next weekend because of severe back pain. Fortunately, I was free and agreed to come the next Sunday. He arranged for only two Masses that weekend, celebrated at St. Agnes in Ritzville and Mary Queen of Heaven in Sprague. The parishioners of Holy Trinity in Washtucna and St. Ambrose in Lind were asked to come to Ritzville.

As it turned out, Father McGreevy has cancer and is now in St. Joseph Care Center in Spokane. For the immediate future we are temporarily covering these parishes with priests driving from Spokane for the two Masses on Sunday. I especially appreciate the flexibility of these parishioners as we strive to address their needs.

But their situation has not been unique. In the last few years, parishes in Pomeroy, Dayton, Waitsburg, Harrington, Davenport, and Reardan have had similar experiences as we have attempted to provide for the pastoral presence of a priest, especially for weekend liturgies.

This time of year is almost always an intense time of arranging the new cycle of assignments for our diocesan priests. The 2002 cycle seems to be especially challenging as we strive to provide pastoral presence for our parish communities. Even though we had six priests ordained two years ago, we find ourselves scrambling to cover all the bases this coming summer. In the interim, our retired priests who are able have been most generous in the offering of their services. For that generosity, all of us need to be grateful and sensitive to their years of retirement.

We also find ourselves in the position of needing to restructure how we share together the responsibility of pastoral presence. This will include our larger urban areas as well as the rural. I ask your patience and understanding as we strive to be good stewards of our diocesan family and make the best use of the gifts of our priests, deacons, Sisters, and lay ministers. I also ask you to strengthen your commitment to your parish communities and to our diocesan family as I make decisions with the assistance of the personnel board to serve all of our parishes in the best possible way. This is especially a time not to be swayed by weak commitment or a lack of will to face, with honesty and hope, the struggles in parish life. For example, every pastor well knows how strong the emotions are surrounding any possibility of changing the times for celebrating Eucharist in a given parish and how readily people will "take a walk" to a place where Mass is more convenient. In addition, there are times when the multiplication of Masses really isn’t needed, but in order to hold parishioners, pastors will accede to the desire for convenient times. Of course, there are financial implications as well.

I urge all of us to be genuinely concerned about good stewardship in this regard. Oftentimes, when Masses can be combined, a larger congregation can be much more meaningful than a scattering of people at another Mass. We must also be concerned about the workload and energy of our priests. In Pend Oreille County, for example, Father Ed Marier has responsibility for five faith communities: Newport, Usk, the Kalispel Reservation, Ione, and Metaline Falls. Several years ago, the parishioners of St. Bernard in Ione and St. Joseph in Metaline Falls decided that they would combine as one community every Sunday and alternate between the two towns the place of the celebration of Sunday Eucharist. With a distance of about 65 miles from one end of the county to the other, this accommodation makes a big difference for the pastor. I am most grateful to the parishioners for this sensitivity and caring.

May we together be good stewards, responsible and faithful to our parish communities, and exhibit flexibility as we strive to be the Catholic Church here in Eastern Washington. Just as in family life, the Church makes demands of all of us - sacrifice, commitment, but also hope - as we face the future. We have been truly blessed. With grateful hearts, we know God will continue to be with us always.

May God bless you and give you peace. Prayers and best wishes for a fruitful Lent!

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