Dear Friends,
Today we have our fall Spaghetti Dinner. I hope that you will take a little time and join us for a meal. Even better, I hope you take an hour or two and help us serve the food to our neighbors and friends who have come to join us for this great event. All the money raised at the Spaghetti Dinner goes to support All Saints School, none of it stays with the parish. It helps provide an education for low-income children and allows their parents to be able to make a decision to send their children to a Catholic School. I am sure these children and their families will be very grateful for all you are doing for them in helping through the money raised at the dinner.
The Spaghetti Dinner also helps us form community or what is referred to in church discussions as “fellowship”. But, what is fellowship? I suppose, that at its most basic, you could say that it is “two fellows on the same ship.” If you head out on cruise with another person then you are experiencing “fellowship”. You are headed in the same direction because you are traveling with each other on the same vessel. You get to know each other and you associate because you are going to the same place. Fellowship is what happens when people get to know each other because they are headed the same direction.
As Christians, we are all, hopefully, following Jesus and headed toward the kingdom. We are headed in the same direction. St. Paul teaches us that we are a fellowship of believers with a top priority being harmony and unity. He says, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” And, “Let us concentrate on the things that make for harmony and the growth of our fellowship together.” When there is conflict in the Church, when Christians get mad at other Christians, then you are destroying “fellowship”. Has there always been conflict in the church? Yes, from the very beginning, but we are to work at bringing about a unity even when we do not always agree.
People who are growing spiritually quickly realize that they need a church. It is possible to be a Christian without a community, but it is very difficult. People with spiritual maturity realize that they need other Christians to help them live the call from Jesus. They know that alone they will fall away from God, become lazy, and not seek to be the best disciple they can be. The community inspires them, challenges them, supports them and makes them more than they could be alone.
People who are spiritually mature know that they are saved by God’s free gift of salvation. They do not work in the church to earn their salvation, but they work in the church to glorify God and to give thanks for the graces they have received. Jesus is piloting the boat in which we are all “fellows”. We are not providing the power for the boat, we are not turning the wheel, we are not making sure all is well in the boat. No, we are simply along for a ride where God does almost all the work.
Enjoy the dinner, enjoy the fellowship, enjoy the wonder of having Christ lead you to the final destination of this journey – our heavenly home!
Peace,
Fr. Damian