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The Greatest Step is the First One, Say “Yes!”
For over 30 years now, I have attended the International Catholic Stewardship Council Conference. Each year brought a different city, Catholics from all walks of life on a mission to meet the challenges of building the Kingdom of God here on earth!
This year I had the opportunity to speak with a Deacon who played an integral part in creating a bright future for his parish simply by saying “Yes”. One afternoon three years ago, he was in his office at his parish when a call came in from a man asking for a Deacon or Priest to come to a funeral home to offer a prayer service for his deceased wife. The man was honest and straightforward, he was a lapsed Catholic, he had called three other parishes prior to this one, he was not a parishioner, he just knew he wanted this for his deceased spouse.
The request was not a simple stop by the local funeral parlor; it was a funeral home 30 minutes away from the parish and it was on a Friday night. Yet, the Deacon said “Yes”! At that time, the Pastor of the parish for years was taking a daily walk, down the block from his Church to pray in front of a building that was the first chapel of their now significantly expanded Parish. The Pastor prayed each day that the owner of the building, formerly their first chapel and was now a corporate office building would consider selling the building to the parish, giving them the opportunity to move the building to their new campus to once again be a chapel of prayer. Yet, despite his prayers, the owner continued to say no.
So that Friday comes, Deacon goes to the funeral home to lead the prayer service and he left feeling he had done his duty serving the people of God. A few days later, the widower stopped by the parish to give the Deacon a thank you card and an Amazon gift card in appreciation. He also initiated a conversation with the Deacon that he wanted to do something in memory of his wife. The Deacon shared that the parish was about to commission a new religious portrait and that there was the opportunity to memorialize the image for $4,000. The widower immediately stated he wished to do so, and the Deacon was very pleased.
A few months later, as the relationship between the Deacon and the widower grew, the man stated he wished to do something more for the parish. Deacon put him in touch with the Catholic Foundation from his Archdiocese and the man setup a $100,000 endowment for the parish as well as 2 other $100,000 endowments for other Catholic Ministries, what a tremendous blessing.
Since that time, the owner of the building, which was the first chapel, had a change in heart, no doubt in response to the constant prayers of the Pastor, to sell the building to the parish! The Pastor was pleased that this was happening and was now planning a capital campaign to raise the funds to move the building and re-create the original Chapel back on their campus.
Well, a few months ago, the widower passed away. Just a few weeks ago, the parish learned that the widower had placed $4 million in his estate to go to the parish for their capital needs and desires. Now, their prayers for the moving of the chapel to the parish can be accomplished.
From the simple response of a Deacon responding to his call to serve by saying “Yes”, their parish is forever changed. The parish has been reconnected to its history, a lapsed Catholic was brought home to the faith prior to going to God, and the prayers of a persistent Pastor were answered, maybe not as quickly as he would have liked, but the intention has been fulfilled.
In the classic Notre Dame movie Rudy, there is a scene in the Basilica at ND where the Catholic priest sits with Rudy as he desperately prays for his prayers of getting into Notre Dame be answered. The priest states, “Praying is what we do in our time, the answers come in God’s time”. We must continue to pray. We must continue to say “Yes” and God will answer us, maybe not as quickly as we would like, but He will answer.
Every Day, continue to say “Yes” to him even if it requires you to give up your Friday night.
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