Hey, Watch This?

Hello Folks,

As you all might know by now, I am a nature and outdoors lover. I got this avocation hereditarily. Mom passed it on to our whole family, especially her love for birds. Even Dad caught Mom’s bird fever.

When I was pastor of Emmanuel Catholic Church in Albany Mom and Dad would often come to see me at this time of the year. The Army Corp of Engineers would host eagle watching weekends on Dale Hollow Lake while those majestic birds would be wintering there. The Corp would have barges meet bird watchers at the Dale Hollow State Park and then take them out to cruise the lake looking for bald eagles. The first time Mom and Dad came down to do this we called to late to get seats on the barge. So another couple from the parish offered to follow the barges in their runabout so we could participate in the eagle watch. Mom was very excited, I was looking forward to a weekend with them, but Dad was a little apprehensive. I believe Dad thought we were going on a wild goose (eagle) chase. He couldn’t believe that there were bald eagles in Kentucky, even though our hosts, Hal and Betty, and I all attested to seeing eagles while we had been fishing there. So, imagine Dad’s shock when we saw an eagle 50 yards away from us while Hal, he, and I were putting Hal’s boat in the lake. Dad didn’t show surprise often and he was normally not a very talkative man. But when we saw the big bird with a glowing white head and tail chasing a flock of water birds looking for breakfast, Dad’s jaw dropped. Then, when we got to Hal and Betty’s dock to pick up Mom and Betty, Dad kept on saying, “Kitty, I wouldn’t believe it until I saw it! There are eagles here! We saw one as soon as we got to the boat ramp!” He would retell the story to the rest of our family, his sisters, and other friends with the same excitement as the first day he saw an eagle in Kentucky. And somewhere in the story he would always say, “I wouldn’t (or couldn’t, or didn’t believe it until I saw it…”.

St. John the Baptist seems that excited in the Gospel today. He has just baptized the Son of God that he came to foretell. And his excitement keeps on expressing itself: “Look who I’ve seen!” “He’s the One I’ve been talking about!” “He’s the reason I’ve been doing and saying all that I’ve been doing and saying!” “I saw the Holy Spirit come down on Him!” “It’s Him!” “He’s the One!” You can almost see him trying to get the attention of everyone he is trying to tell that the Messiah is here. He points Jesus out and wants everyone else to see what he sees.

This weekend we celebrate Vocation Weekend. All of us share the vocation of pointing out Christ among us in the people and the world around us. One way that we can promote religious and priestly vocations is letting people know that you see something religious or priestly about them. Maybe if you see it in them, then they too will notice it in themselves and pursue it. At first they may not want to believe that you see what you see in them. But once you point out the Godly in someone, I believe the Holy Spirit will help them see it too. Tell someone you know that you see something priestly or religious about them this week.

Paz,
Fr. Chuck