I've returned to work on the Parson To Person manuscript. I'd love to complete it by summer's end. Right. Anyhow, a few of you have been asking for more of it here. So, here's a bit more. If you're not familiar with the story or characters you can find earlier episodes under Parson to Person in the category list.
I was surprised how well our conversation went. We had far more in common than I would have thought. Many of my issues were his issues. Many of my insecurities were his insecurities. I felt, rather quickly, that Father Dom was someone I could trust, and someone I could probably talk to. He was very transparent with me.
“Yes, that scandal has been a huge concern for us all”, Father Dom conceded as he removed his glasses and massaged his eyes. “One of the cases that made the news actually involved a former priest at the parish that I had served in the early nineties. The allegations concerned an earlier parish in his ministry, but we were always concerned that someone from the history of our parish might come out of the woodwork. It is an unspeakable harm that these men have perpetrated. It has hurt the church. More than that, however, it has hurt the cause of Christ. My constant prayer is for more opportunities to convince people that while men will fail them, Jesus never will!”
What a radical truth: men will fail me, but Jesus never will. I knew that. I had preached that. I had often given that very message to others. But did I believe it where my own trials were concerned? If I am completely honest, I wondered where Jesus had gone in the midst of my latest saga.
“Hey Brian”, a voice approached me. I looked up to see Jack.
“Ah, Jack Higginbotham, pastor at Abundant Life, this is Father Dom… uh, I’m sorry, I don’t know your last name?”
“Acosta. Dominic Acosta. Pleased to meet you Jack”, Dom completed my introduction.
“Father Dom is new to St. Boniface”, I offered to Jack.
“Pleased to meet you,” Jack replied with a tone and a look that spoke dismissingly. “Enjoy your lunch, gentlemen. I just thought I’d say hello.”
I’d known Jack for seven years. Never had he ever been so brief. I watched him take a seat at a table in the corner and pull out his Blackberry. He looked up and met my eyes a few times. Jack’s perspective on this scene – me enjoying lunch with the local Catholic priest a couple hours after the local Protestant clergy meeting – it occurred to me, was that I was eating with ‘the enemy’. Come to think of it, that would have been my gut feeling just a few months earlier. Now, I found this whole setting to be a little humorous. I felt as though I was going through somewhat of a theological awakening, while Jack and others of my peers were stuck in some narrow theological rut.
Comments