It is time to accept the Baton

Our Mother of Perpetual Help Farewell Mass A few weeks ago, I went to see the play The Mountaintop. It is the story of Martin Luther King Jr. the night before he died. He is in his room alone and he calls room service ordering coffee. A maid Carrie Mae brings Dr. King his coffee, but she is more than a maid, she is an angel sent by God to tell Dr. King that he will die the next morning. When Carrie Mae delivers the news Dr. King begins to argue and bargain with the angel. The Angel, with a great sense of sadness, reasons with King, describing how the "baton", a reference of the ever-passing responsibility for the civil rights cause, will continue to be passed on even when he is gone. King still denying his future forces the angel to call God with the hopes that he can convince God to give him more time. However, the call ends with King understanding his fate is set in stone and that his death is arriving shortly. With this realization King makes one last wish, to see his legacy and how it will affect the future to come. In the last minutes, King has a vision filled with significant names that grab the "baton" to continue the fight, events that further the cause, as well as accomplishments that have been made in the future. I certainly appreciate Dr. King’s situation. I too have argued that it is not yet time for the Redemptorists to leave St. Mary’s. I didn’t call God, but I did call more than a few provincials and bishops arguing my case but like King the answer came back no, it is time. At the end of June 2023, the Redemptorists will leave their 101-year-old legacy at St. Mary’s of the Assumption. I don’t like the image of passing on the baton because for the last 101 years what we have done here at St. Mary’s has never been us for you. It has always been us together. That is a hallmark of Redemptorist Spirituality. Our collaboration with the laity with the people that we have been sent to serve. Obviously, it has not been the Redemptorists who have created a wonderful parish community for you, it has been the Redemptorists and those of you who share our charism who have created this wonderful parish. But yes, now it is time to pass on the baton. It is time to invite you to continue the ministry without us. Today we celebrate the feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help and we have purposely chosen this day to celebrate. Mary, our Mother of Perpetual Help is the Mother of the Redemptorist Mission. We always ask for her protection in our apostolic ministry. We believe that is she doesn’t so much lead or guide our Ministry but rather we believe that she walks alongside of us. She is the one who teaches us to be Redemptorist Missionaries, she is the one who leads us to search out the poor and most abandoned. In the Icon it is all about Jesus, Mary’s hands, eyes and gaze lead us to Jesus. That is what a Redemptorist Missionary is called to do, to lead us to Jesus. It is never about us; it is always about him. In Jesus alone is plentiful Redemption. At the end of the play King is given the opportunity of seeing into the future. Seeing how it is that his work would continue. Those who would further the cause I would like you to gaze with me into the future. To imagine how it is that St. Mary’s of the Assumption will look in the future: twenty-five, fifty or more years in the future, even when no one here is around. With the history of the Redemptorists will be not much more than a footnote in the history of the parish. I obviously hope that you will continue to celebrate Our Mother of Perpetual Help. I pray that you will continue with her devotions every Tuesday. It would be wonderful if you continue to celebrate her feast every June 27th and decorate her altar. But this isn’t the main legacy that I hope that we leave you. Rather than simply honoring Our Mother of Perpetual Help. I would hope that you continue the ministry of the blessed Mother to point out her son Jesus. That you would continue to bring others to Jesus. The legacy I pray for is that St. Mary’s will always be a Church of inclusion. A Church where all are welcomed, especially those who have been excluded in the past. 101 years ago, when we left Downey and came to Whittier it wasn’t simply to minister to the needs of the parish but it was to reach out to those on the margins. We opened a school that continues to thrive. In that time there were many Mexican immigrants who lived in shacks along the San Gabriel River. In those days they were told that they weren’t welcome at St. Mary’s and the Redemptorists made sure that they were welcome. They began chapels to minister to the people. Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Los Nietos is one of those chapels; St. Francis Xavier in Pico Rivera which used to be called St. Alphonsus another. And a third was in a place called Jim town that was torn down when the 605 was constructed. In the last few years, we have revitalized our ministry to the Spanish speaking migrants. Most especially with the help of Fr. Manuel and the Redemptorists from Mexico. We have left the comfort of our church and have gone to the neighborhoods to proclaim in peoples’ homes and back yards that there is plentiful Redemption for all: That no one is excluded from God’s love. With the vision of Cecilia Sosa and countless volunteers we have reached out to people who suffer from food insecurity. Heeding the words of the Apostle James that we must not just preach the word, but we must minister to people’s needs as well. There are many parishes that have food banks and reach out to the poor but what Fr. Ted did was particularly Redemptorist, he created a community amongst the volunteers who came to serve. And you know that just might have been more important than serving all those boxes of food. It is easy to tell who those are who are on the outskirts of our community, because there are the ones who we are criticized for in reaching out to them. More than one letter has been written to me criticizing the Redemptorists for reaching out to “illegals” but of course I have received the most criticism for making it known that the members of the LGBTQ+ are welcome here at St. Mary’s. Of course, that has only reaffirmed my belief that we were on the right track making sure that everyone felt welcomed at St. Mary’s. As I said I can’t see into the future, but it is my hope that as we pass on the baton to you that you will continue to make St. Mary’s a place of welcome. That St. Mary’s will be known as a place of welcome where all included. A place where the poor are feed, the sick visited, the mourning comforted and all come to know Jesus and to celebrate the sacraments. I don’t know who the folks on the margins will be in 25, 50 or 100 years, but if St. Mary’s continues to welcome all our legacy will continue.