Under the Acacia Tree

One of life’s wonderful gifts is change.  Last Sunday I preached at nine Masses.  And yes they were all in the same parish.  St. Thomas the Apostle Church in West Hempstead, Long Island, New York is a unique parish if only because it has two churches within the parish boundaries.  What is called the chapel is larger than St. Augustine Church.  The major church seats 1,000.  For many of the Sunday Masses, both were quite full.   The schedule is arranged so that there is a Mass at the Church at 9 and one at the chapel begins at 9:30.  The distance between the two churches is two miles, so when I finished preaching at the 9:00 (which was completed by 9:30) I would then dash outside where a car was waiting to take me to the chapel.  I arrived at the chapel  just as the deacon would begin or be close to the ending of the proclamation of the gospel and walk calmly to the altar and down the stairs to preach.  It was an exhilarating experience for sure.  And I made the trip back and forth three times on Sunday morning.   Add the vigil Mass on Saturday, a 6 PM Mass on Sunday and the early Mass at the Church and you have the nine Masses.  On Monday and Tuesday I preached a mini mission using the theme of St. Paul’s letters captured in the phrase: "the love of God Made Visible in Christ Jesus."  While the number of people attending the mission was average – about 300 each evening – it gave me a chance to introduce the people to some of the call and response type of preaching which I love, and which is so much a part of the African American experience.
 
And, of course, being in a different parish gave me an opportunity to see how another pastor deals with a community of faith for which he is responsible.  The staff at St. Thomas is much larger than our staff at St. Augustine.  But then again, that staff is ministering to 2,500 families.  The bulletin at St. Thomas last Sunday was 8 pages, so things are on a much larger basis there.  And, of course, living with the pastor there are four other priests, all of them international priests. The rectories of today’s church are changing.
 
What is common to both our parishes is good, thoughtful and caring people who love the Lord and want to do what he asks.  The diversity at St. Thomas is richer than ours as I saw Black People (mostly Haitian), some people who were Asian, a number of people whose culture is mostly from India, some Latinos and a large number of European Americans.   The parish is clearly made up of people who are middle class and love their homes.

St. Paul often preached to a wide variety of cultures when he traveled throughout the then known world.  That same variety of cultures and people was part of the joy of St. Thomas, and the experience of preaching a mission there.
 
Rev. John Geaney, CSP
Pastor
Dec. 6, 2009