Christ Our Light Catholic Parish

Let’s play “guess the TV show.” I will hum the theme songs of a few classic/old TV shows and you guess the name of the show. [I hum: Gilligan’s Island, Bonanza, The Flintstones, and Star Trek]

September 8 was the 50^th anniversary of the debut of the original Star Trek shows. Do you remember this? [Show Vulcan hand greeting.]   Who can do it? Show me. Star Trek has been adored by millions of fans over many generations. It has become the most iconic sci-fi entertainment franchise . . . with spin offs, big screen movies, games, books and merchandise.

I wrote in the bulletin cover this weekend, ideas about life that various people learned from the original show.

I think part of the mystique of the show is that is shows the future in a positive light and that basically we humans want good for everyone. It also came at a time (1960’s) when racial tensions were high . . . and here comes a show that depicts various races not only tolerating each other but also working together for good. It was remarkable at depicted how we could be.

But also the voice-over during the opening song, says, “ . . . to seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no [one] has gone before.” I think is a quest for any of us. Of course, some of us have a hard time accepting change, but I believe that all of us want the world (and ourselves) to be better. That is, to be the best that we can be.

Jesus refers to that in the gospel. That is, we have to get our “act together NOW, if we expect our lives to be better in the future.”   For example if you don’t practice honesty now, you only become more dishonest. If I can’t trust you with something today, how can I trust you with something tomorrow?  

Or the whole concept of NOT serving two masters that Jesus talks about. Mammon is the word in Jesus’ time to mean not just money, but all material wealth. More like, the greedy desire to have more and more. And as we have been hearing during the past few weeks, Jesus is trying to get the people of his time . . . to get their priorities in order. If you put God FIRST, then everything else will fall into place. For example, when you give to the Church (And here is where our Star Trek message applies . . . to go where no one has gone before).   Jesus says, don’t firstly look at your bills or expenses then give to the Church your surplus or whatever is leftover. But start with making your contributions a priority. What?   If you do so, everything else will fall into place. Everything! If you currently having financial woes, Jesus would say that you are focused on the wrong Master. Try it . . . go where you have probably NOT gone before.

Or we, as a Parish Community, we are also invited to PUT GOD FIRST.   We have those GOD FIRST sheets that you filled out last fall. We will probably do that again. But more than our individual responses, it also our collective response as a community.

We have one of the “all-time best” parish Mission Statements ever created. I think that you all know it . . . say it with, LOVE GOD, LIVE THE EUCHARIST. It is simple, it’s easy to remember and it is profound. We put God first and we try to live (and become) Eucharist. We eat Eucharist to become Eucharist. We, then are the place of hopefulness, the place of resurrection, the place where others’s see Christ.   Wow, that’s exciting.

So, back in 2011, I put together my vision of how we live out that Mission Statement as a parish. It was adopted by the Pastoral Council and published, but perhaps you have forgotten it. I have included it in a Parish letter that we are sending out on Monday (along with our financial statements).

These Vision Statements were inspired from a quote by St. Teresa of Avila. She wrote, "Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which Christ walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which Christ blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are Christ’s body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours."

Here are our Parish’s Vision Statements:

1. To become the “Heart of Christ” - Welcoming and Friendly. Christ Our Light Parish will be welcoming to all with a warmth and hospitality that permeates what we do and extends beyond our walls.

2. To become the “Body of Christ” - Inspiring and Transformative. Christ Our Light Parish’s liturgies, programs and ministries will be inspiring and transformative, calling forth full, active, and conscious participation of all its members.

3. To become the “Hands of Christ” - with a clear Social Concerns focus. Christ Our Light Parish will encourage members to embrace the call of outreach to those in need through their time, talent, and treasure.

So here is your challenge for the week, look over those statements . . . either from the letter, from the homily (and remember that copies are also available at the entrance and on line, and we started video-taping all the homilies so that you can view them at our parish website), look them over and how you can become

1. the “Heart of Christ” – more welcoming and friendly?
2. the “Body of Christ” - inspiring and transformative?
3. the “Hands of Christ” – what is your involvement with a social justice concerns?

Christ has no other hands or feet or heart than us. Go where no one has gone before.