Pastor's Points: What Is This Place?

Pastor's Points: What Is This Place?

On June 20^th we gathered to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving in celebration of the 75^th anniversary of the founding of the Catholic Community in Chapel Hill. Below you will find my homily for that liturgy in which I reflected on the question, “What is this place.” I hope that, like me, you are grateful for this parish community that we call home and where we are given the chance to live out our life of faith as so many have done before us.

As most priests will tell you, it is a regular thing for your phone in the office to ring and it is the receptionist telling you that “someone needs to see a priest.” It could be that someone would like to go the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or they are in crisis, a loved one has died or they just need to talk to someone or ask a question. I received one of those calls recently. Someone was here who wanted to speak to a priest. So I went downstairs from the office to the Parish Center and there met a young man. I sat down with him and asked what I could do for him. He said he was not Catholic but had some questions about the faith. I proceeded to answer his questions and at the end I asked him what it was that made him come here today-what made him come to the Catholic Church? The young man replied that he would drive by here every day but one day he was driving with his uncle who noticed the church and all the cars parked outside and a lot of activity. The uncle had driven by on a number of occasions as well. The man’s uncle said to him, “What is this place?” It was a good question. And so that young man had to come in and see what this place was and what we were about and ask some questions. Hopefully he comes back to continue to find out what this place is all about.

Dear Bishop Burbidge, brother priests, reverend deacons, dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, as we gather today to celebrate 75 years since the founding of the Catholic community in Chapel Hill and the feast of our patron, Thomas More, that question “What is this place?” has stuck with me. What is it that we are all about? What do we strive to do here and beyond the 4 walls of this church? What are we about?
As part of our recent strategic planning process, we developed a new, clear, concise mission statement. “As disciples of Jesus Christ we are a diverse and hospitable Catholic Community. We pray, serve and spread the gospel with joy.” That is it. That is what we are about. This is what this place is about. We are at our best as a Catholic community when we do those things: When we pray. When we serve one another and those in need. And when we spread the gospel with great joy through our evangelization efforts and our deliberate discipleship. We find out what this place is as we live our vocation here day after day, week after week.

We, the people of this parish community here and now, and so many who have gone before us, have been living our vocation as part of the grand story of this local Catholic Community. We began humbly with a handful of Catholics gathering on the UNC campus. Today we have grown into what we now know and see. As a child grows into adulthood so have we grown from a very small group of faithful Catholics into the largest institution in Chapel Hill outside of UNC. We are a strong presence and force in this local community. We are very visible-not just our buildings on the highway-but in how we strive to live our life as a parish and how we strive to be of service to those in need. Our corporate prayer leads us to service. The Eucharistic act that we celebrate here is the cause for our efforts to share our faith joyfully.

We do all of this under the patronage of St. Thomas More. The readings we heard today are those from the common of martyrs. They speak of trial, sacrifice and suffering for the faith. We know that this is what Thomas More and John Fisher and so many other martyrs did for the faith so that we could be here today to freely celebrate our faith. The Church has been built upon the sacrifice of the martyrs who remained true to their beliefs in the face of persecution and death. Thomas More teaches us about fidelity, strength, hope, and love for God and for God’s holy Church. This place, this church, this community should do the same. “What is this place?” It is a school of Christian discipleship. It is a school of stewardship. It is a school of love. It is a place where the living God is revealed to us through prayer, sacrifice and service. This is a place where the hungry of body and soul seek nourishment and are fed. It is a place where those thirsty for the truth can find refreshment. It is place where gospel values are put into practice each and every day through a Catholic School and through religious education. It is a place where the sinner is healed, where the sorrowful are comforted, where the laborer can find rest. “What is this place?” Very simply, this is a parish. It is the place where, in the words of one of my seminary professors, Fr. Larry Hennessy, “the Church is inserted into the neighborhood and the world and is the place in which the Church encounters the world and the world encounters the Church. “ This is what the parish does for us and what we do for the world. We come to know the Church, love the Church and live the life we are called to live through our experience of parish life. And we show others who Mother Church is by our faithful witness to the gospel.

For 75 years Catholics in Chapel Hill and beyond have strived to be the living Church here in this part of our world. From Mass on the UNC campus, to the building of a gothic church on Gimghoul Road, to the burgeoning of this campus, we have continued to gather people around the table of God’s word and the table of the Eucharist so that we may be fed by the One who came so that we might have life and have it in abundance.

And so this year we “Remember, Rejoice, Renew.” We remember the past 75 years of our Catholic presence in Chapel Hill. We rejoice in the blessings that God has given us and celebrate this through Divine worship and prayer. And we renew our common bond as one community of faith and as a pilgrim people journeying together to God’s kingdom. Fr. Labosky, Fr. Michael, our parish deacons, staff and I are so grateful for the chance to walk with you on this great journey of faith. “What is this place?” Look around. See what makes us who we are. See what makes us a parish. See what makes us a home. See what makes us a Catholic Community of disciples of Jesus Christ who pray, serve and spread the gospel with joy.

Thank you for choosing to be a part of this journey in faith. Thank you for choosing to live your Catholic, Christian faith here in this local manifestation of the Body of Christ. Let us continue to pray for and with one another that the God of all Grace who has called us into being with sustain us and bless us as we begin our next 75 years. Amen.