St. John's Lancaster
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| Looking to the Future Monarch of the Glen by Edwin Henry Landseer 1851 |
December is the busiest time of the year for a priest. But I must admit (as my good wife occasionally points out) that much of the busyness is of my own making. I agree to do things that are good in and of themselves, and I suppose it is an honour to be asked to do them, and someone should do them; but they don't directly support my mission and vocation to be a good priest at St. John's, a good husband and father, and a great grandpa. This December experience, which is much the same every year, prompts me to consider a new rubric for developing my new year's resolutions for the coming year.
Somewhere along the line, probably in the Army, I attended a management seminar which taught that I should establish a brief, quantifiable mission statement for my life, and that everything I do ought to be justifiable in terms of that mission statement. For instance, I am a parish priest. Therefore conduct of the worship service on Sunday is very important, because that is what my status as a priest demands that I do. In like manner, sermon preparation, personal prayer, and adequate rest are essential to the successful performance of my professional duties, and therefore are given a high and justifiable priority. On the other hand, a three week trip to Argentina to shoot game birds might be lots of fun, and might be very relaxing is some ways, but there is no possible way that I could say it supports my mission priority as a parish priest. It would have a much lower priority in my life, and would be done on vacation time, not work time. And it would be improper for the church to fund such a trip. All because it is not directly related to my mission as a priest.
Bishop Breidenthal has over the past three years or so led our diocese in the development of a set of mission priorities. Our budget and diocesan staff are now organized around these priorities, and all expenditures of time and money are expected to be justified in terms or their relationship to the priorities. And so as I approach the new year, I find myself thinking that I should dig back into my old notes from the Army, and inspired by the example of our bishop, try to tighten up my own erratic calendar of commitments in the year to come. My mission statement has already been stated above. I will strive to be a good parish priest, a good husband and father, and a great grandpa. That is the easy part. Now comes the hard part. As I fulfill current obligations, will I have the strength to say "no" to future opportunities to do good things if they do not directly support my priorities- my mission? What it means to be a good parish priest is clearly outlined in the ordinal in the Book of Common Prayer and in the Pastoral Epistles of Saint Paul. What it means to be a good husband is clearly outlined in the vows and charges of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. What it means to be a great grandpa (and perhaps a good dad) is measured more subjectively by balancing the laughter of Margaret and Helen with the raised eyebrows I get from their mother! Other things, even good things, which do not fit into one of these three priorities are luxuries that I may or may not be able to afford. I may say yes to a few, but if I say yes to too many, I will fail to accomplish my mission and purpose, because my focus will be scattered and my resources spread too thin.
I dare say the conundrum I ponder faces us all most of the time. In the coming year, I hope that we will all be able to establish a list of priorities, a mission for our lives. I pray that we will have the wisdom to focus not on all of the good things that need to be done, but on those things which God has called us to include in our mission. It may be that on occasion there is some justification for saying "yes" to something that does not directly support our mission. But if we do that too much, we will never accomplish the work God gives us to do. In this coming year, I hope God will give you the strength to say "no," and the wisdom to know when to say "yes." And I believe with all my heart that if we include him in the process of determining what is the real purpose and mission of our lives, he will give us all of the strength and wisdom we need. Through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. AMEN.
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