SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING - CYCLE B
JUBILEE MASS FOR THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF
ST. VINCENT FERRER PARISH, RIVER FOREST, ILLINOIS
November 26, 2006
+ Most Rev. Thomas J. Paprocki
Auxiliary Bishop of ChicagoEpiscopal Vicar of Vicariate IV
Thanksgiving is a celebration that has always had a connection with travel. In 1620 a small group of Pilgrims, seeking religious freedom, set sail from England with the hope of establishing a colony in the northern part of the Virginia territory, as it was known at the time. They chartered a tiny ship named the Mayflower for the journey. Some 102 passengers squeezed on board this small vessel, which was not much larger than a tennis court. The captain steered them much farther north than they had planned, landing the group at Cape Cod. After exploring the area, they settled at Plymouth, a settlement protected by a small harbor, where they struggled to survive. Many in the party died during the first terrible winter there. During the next year conditions vastly improved and they celebrated their success in the Fall with a dinner of Thanksgiving. This tradition has grown into a major American holiday commemorating the struggles of those first Pilgrims.
Today in the United States, the Thanksgiving weekend is the number one travel period. More people make the effort to connect with family and friends for this holiday than for any other. People travel by cars, trains and planes for this extended weekend. When we talk about travel, the assumption is that the mode of transportation is secondary, the destination being the primary focus. This does not mean that the way we travel is unimportant. Some may choose to fly because it is faster. Others prefer driving because they fear flying or don't want to bother with the hassle of the security checks. Even after selecting the mode of transportation, there is the question of the vehicle. If you are driving, do you take a small compact car with good gas mileage, or do you take a larger sedan or SUV that will provide a smoother, more comfortable ride? In the end, what really matters is that we reach our destination, but we usually do care a great deal about how we get there.
Today we are celebrating the conclusion of your year-long observance of the 75th anniversary of the founding of St. Vincent Ferrer Parish. The first parishioners in 1931 traveled mainly from Ireland and Italy. Today, parishioners also come from Poland, the Philippines, Latin America and other parts of the world. Yet, while
we may all be very happy in River Forest, Elmwood Park and the greater Chicago metropolitan area, we realize that this is not our final destination: we are only stopping on the way as we journey to the place that the Lord has prepared for us in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Once we acknowledge this fact, we recognize that parishes, and indeed the entire Church, are only means for the journey, sort of a mode of transportation to get us to our ultimate destination. Like travelers on the way to a Thanksgiving celebration, the important thing is that we reach the destination, yet how we get there is also important. It is so important that Jesus Himself founded His Church as the necessary means of our salvation. The Second Vatican Council affirmed that "the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; He is present to us in His body which is the Church. He Himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which [people] enter as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse to enter it or remain in it" (Lumen Gentium 14).
In an age of relativism, such a statement may sound questionable, if not offensive to some. Yet it is the truth. Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me" (John 14:6). Our world today has trouble understanding and accepting the truth, just as Pontius Pilate did 2,000 years ago. Yet Jesus told Pilate and all of us two specific things about His Kingdom in the passage that we have just heard from John's Gospel: Christ's kingdom does not belong to this world, and the reason He was born, the reason He came into the world, was to testify to the truth.
St. Thomas Aquinas, the scholarly Dominican priest known as the Angelic doctor, provides some deeply perceptive and at the same time very beautiful insights into everlasting life in God's Kingdom. He wrote, "The first point about eternal life is that man is united with God. For God Himself is the reward and end of all our labors. . . . Next it consists in perfect praise, according to the words of the prophet: Joy and happiness will be found in it, thanksgiving and words of praise. [Eternal life in the Kingdom of God] also consists in the complete satisfaction of desire, for there the blessed will be given more than they wanted or hoped for. The reason is that in this life no one can fulfill his longing, nor can any creature satisfy man's desire. Only God satisfies, He infinitely exceeds all other pleasures. That is why man can rest in nothing but God" (cf. Office of Readings, Saturday of the 33rd week in Ordinary time).
For the past 75 years, the Dominican Friars have provided for the pastoral care of the people of St. Vincent Ferrer Parish on their journey to God's Kingdom, celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, administering the sacraments, visiting the sick, burying the dead, and providing for the education of future generations of Catholics. For all of this, the Archdiocese of Chicago is very grateful, and so on behalf of our Archbishop, Francis Cardinal George, and his predecessors, Cardinals Mundelein, Stritch, Meyer, Cody and Bernardin, I say, thank you and may God reward your efforts.
Much had changed in the world over the past seventy-five years. In 1931, the world was in the midst of the Great Depression. They did not have the rapid means of travel and quick communication that modern technology provides for us today. But they did have something very valuable and timeless: they had the Catholic faith, and they planted the seeds of that faith here in the western suburbs of Chicago.
Seventy-five later, that same faith is still here, thanks be to God. That faith unites us in the love that we share individually and as a community with the Holy Trinity, God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Our challenge is to see to it that this faith continues to grow strong for many more years to come. That is why it is so important to pass on that faith to the next generations through our schools and religious education programs. We are here today because those who came before us rose to the challenge, and we are reaping the benefits. If we, too, can rise to the challenge, then someday perhaps people who are not even born yet will be grateful for our efforts.
May God give us this grace. Amen.
+ Thomas J. Paprocki
