St. Theresa of Calcutta once said, “There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of the work. This is where the respect and the love and the devotion come in that we do it to God, to Christ, and that’s why we try to do it as beautifully as possible.”

This Monday we observe the Labor Day holiday in our country, a holiday rooted in the late 19th century to recognize the many contributions that laborers have made to the prosperity, strength, and well-being of our country. We work, not just to receive a paycheck & earn a living, but ultimately our work is a way of continuing the task of building up the Kingdom of God in our midst. No matter what we do, or what we did for work, we’re called to see our work as a way of continuing the work of creation and making the world a better place. Certainly we should continue to work for, and sometimes to fight for, a just & living wage for all people, and for better working conditions for every single person, so that reality of building up the Kingdom of God might become a greater reality.

I want to thank all of you who work to build up the Kingdom of God in our parish community and I want to ask for your help. In my first years of learning to pastor two parish communities, I’ve too often fallen into the trap of thinking that I need to work, work, work. This is no one’s fault but my own. Recently I’ve been praying about and God’s been revealing to me that the role of a Pastor is not to do all the work, but to equip others to help in and continue the work of building up the Kingdom of God here in our corner of the world. We all love our parish family, we all want to see it not just be here, but to grow, to thrive, and to make a difference. Maybe we can’t do a lot (that’s not what it’s about) and maybe we can’t do all that we once did, but we can still do something. Let’s continue to discern together how we can continue the work of building up our parish to be not just a place where Mass is celebrated but truly where God is encountered and made present to each and every person.