Taking the Time to Make a Difference

I have seen history. It is happening in my front yard, and in Washington, Ind. Many changes happen slowly, but if I stand at the same spot by the staircase, and look at the new tree in the yard, I can watch it grow from time to time. From my spot by the staircase, I can see the topmost leaves of the tree just above the peak of the house across the street. When I planted the tree some months ago, the topmost leaves just reached the peak. Now, the leaves reach up, perhaps four inches higher. Change is slow, but noticeable. To see it, you just need to have a viewpoint that remains the same over weeks and months. Recently, Google Maps on the Internet began to include street views of Evansville and other cities in the region. Larger metropolitan areas in the United States were already available, but our street view is relatively new. It used to be amazing to go to an Internet site and see a street map of our neighborhood. Then, even more amazing, we could see a satellite picture of the neighborhood – showing my house and garage from on high. Now, “amazing” has lost its punch, as I search the website and find a photograph of my house from the street in front of it. I can move along the street and see my house as if I were driving by. I can see my neighbor’s house to the east, my driveway between our two houses, even my garage – where the overhead door was open. What I can’t see is the tree in the front yard. The pictures were taken before it was planted.

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In Washington, Ind., on the last Sunday in August, a new Catholic parish was planted. Changes had been occurring over many months, many years, in this city that once had two parishes. Hundreds of people, I am sure, could see what was taking place, although it may have been gradual, the kind of thing you would notice if you lived there and worshipped there. St. Simon Church and St. Mary Church in Washington were closed, formally, some weeks ago. A new parish, Our Lady of Hope, was inaugurated Aug. 31. As an outside observer, I was not aware of the details – the way a traveler passing my house would not notice the tree I planted, and how my house was now different than the one that is pictured on the street view at Google Maps. The altar at what was once St. Simon Church came from the former St. Mary Church. That is an important detail for the families who live there, one that few othes would notice. But that is exactly the kind of thing that history is made of – a tree, an altar, and how the view is different from inside the house, not just from the street and the people who are passing by. I am grateful for the people who planned the celebration of the inauguration of the new parish in Washington, so that I too could share in such an important event in their lives. The inaugural ceremonies punctuated this moment in history in such a way that anyone who has eyes to see could know that something new is taking place.

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So, as they say, how are things in your neck of the woods? In your family? In the city and parish where you live and worship? The baby baptized today looks no different than yesterday, but a month from now, you will see the difference in the child you hold in your arms and the one in the photograph. How do you mark the history of your family? How do you acknowledge the intervention of God into your daily life? Take the time to reflect on the rituals and ceremonies of home and church, the ones that help you see and understand what is past and what is new. Take the time to get to know the details of the place where you live, what is available at your parish and what is needed, the services of the city and what is missing. The Good Samaritan was not satisfied with the street view on his journey, the view a person would have just passing by. He saw the need of another, and changed the history of both their lives. That’s our calling too, as members of the Christian family.

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