God Is With Us!

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

I can not hear or read the name Emmanuel without thinking of Albany, Ky. From 1986-1994 my first assignment as pastor was at Emmanuel Catholic Church in Albany and Holy Cross Catholic Church in Burkesville. Those were eight wonderful years in my priesthood. I was still a rookie priest and the people of those two counties helped me understand priesthood in a way that hasn't been topped since.

The parishes were small. Each place only had 20 or 30 families as parishioners. Also, Catholicism was relatively a "new" religion in those counties. I was only the third resident priest there. There were a lot of myths, misconceptions, rumors, prejudice, and ignorance regarding Emmanuel and Holy Cross. So the mission of these mission parishes was to let folks know that Catholics were Christian Churches also. We debunked the myths in a couple of ways. First, we were involved in all of the ecumenical ministries and worship services. The people in our parishes were always present and active in the ministerial association's events and organizations. We were the first ones to sign up to volunteer at the clothes closet and food drives. We were the driving force behind the Christmas Cantatas, the Lenten Bible studies, and the Easter Sunrise Service. We participated in the radio station's 5 minute scripture sharing. We figured that if other Christian folks saw us having the same passion for the scripture and worship as they did then we wouldn't have to prove to them that we didn't have horns and tails hidden under our hats and pants like some thought.

Our main way of debunking these myths was through service though. At Christmas time in Clinton and Cumberland Counties we had a "Caring and Sharing Tree" similar to here in Hardin County. And the Catholic parishes there were the biggest contributors and the ones who helped the most with coordinating, collecting, buying, and distributing the toys, clothes and food items to the very needy folks in the two counties. We were also the "go to" church whenever the police stations or Departments of Human Resources encountered people that had needs that their funds and regulations could not assist. We also had about a half dozen groups of youth volunteers come to our two counties to assist the needy folks there by doing minor home repairs, cleaning, yard work, wood splitting, house painting, or whatever else the elderly person or poor family needed. Our parishioners, though small in number, sacrificed their time to teach the visiting youth how do do the service they were being asked to do; and make sure that the young people got to visit with the people they were serving as they worked.

The result was, that for the most part, the rumors of what Catholics were all about changed. Because of the dedication to the mission of evangelization by the parishioners at Emmanuel and Holy Cross we Catholics were no longer "those weirdos" or "that new church". One of the greatest compliments I ever received was when I answered the phone one day and an elderly man asked me, "Is this the Church that helps people?" I knew then that the mission of our mission parishes was really being lived. We were living up to our names also. Holy Cross was showing that Jesus was still being sacrificed and lifted up in our sacrifices in Cumberland County. And that "God is With Us" Emmanuel was being born anew in Clinton County.

On this week before Christmas let us each look in our lives and ask what kind of gift that we have to offer to our church, to our community, and to God that will let others see that "God is With Us" still.

Peace and Blessings,
Fr. Chuck