Coming to be fed

On Sunday, the Gospel reading was about Jesus feeding his followers with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. Our priest tied it nicely into his homily by talking about how we come to the table to feed on the body of Christ. Fr. K mentioned that Jesus knew he would have to feed these 5,000 men (and Fr. K also mentioned that woman and children just didn’t count at the time). This fit in nicely with the Feast of Corpus Christi.

Fr. K is leaving our parish soon to become a pastor at a nearby parish. He talked a bit about how he was at his new parish a few weeks ago, and one mass was sparsely attended. Suddenly, he was waking up at night with fears about how he was going to get people in the pews. I don’t think Fr. K will have any problems feeding his parishioners. I realized on Sunday I was seeing a priest who had really matured and grown into his own priest.

Fr. K is from Kenya. He’s been our associate for the past 6 years since he was ordained. I’m sure coming to our parish was quite a big of culture shock and perhaps intimidating. It wasn’t long until Fr. K was a vital part of the parish. Fr. K taught us about Kenya and has helped make our parish more aware of social justice, international and immigration issues. I’m sure we have taught him a thing or two, such as the Italian custom of the St. Joseph’s Altar.

Recently, our parish has gone through some turmoil. It was just my observation that Fr. K wasn’t as happy, as he once had been. I think it also showed in his homilies. He was giving homilies from the alb instead of walking around the center aisle. He was not as animated. Last week, there was a party in Fr. K’s honor. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, but I heard stories of all those that came to say good-bye to Fr. K. This Sunday, I sat at mass and heard the best homily that Fr. K ever gave. He was back in the center aisle, being personable, and talking to the people instead of at the people. After mass, a number of people waited for a blessing from Fr. K. I skipped the line because I know I will see Fr. K again after he leaves our parish. But this Sunday, I really felt I had seen a man truly grow into a priest. A man may be designated a priest through ordination, but our parish has been fortunate to witness an individual truly embrace the priesthood.