Say "Cheese"

It's that time again. The parish is putting out a new parish directory, the last one being produced in 2010. Since that time, children have been born and love ones have passed on; teenagers have grown 6 inches and Dad has lost some hair; new faces have arrived and familiar faces have moved to warmer climates; staff changes; clergy changes. And yet the continuity remains within our parish family . . . that is, we are family and we want to hold on to all of that. The parish directory is much more than a phone book or contact list. It is our parish family album where we find each other, put faces together with names and place a finger marker on time.

I think it is of some consequence then that we take the time and effort to gather the clan for the photo shoot. Tell your teenagers to think of it as contributing to the glamour and class of the directory. If you've gained some weight like I have and would rather not memorialize the grand addition, do it anyway and think of it as motivation for the next directory. And if you think that no one really cares if you are pictured in the directory or not, think again. We miss you if you are not there, just as we miss you when you aren't in your pew on Sunday.

The significance of a sense of community in a parish cannot be overstated. Without it the purpose of our gathering for Mass, listening the Word and sharing in the Eucharist becomes hollow by our failure to truly hear what our Lord is telling us. And so we offer ourselves to the parish community in so many different ways. With a smile, an Hola and friendly conversation; truly caring about the circumstances of the person sitting next to us in the pew. Being present as a member of the parish, participating in the assembly for a baptism or first communion and sharing in the joy of the moment. Mourning at the funeral Mass with a family whose love one has passed on and perhaps helping out at the reception; giving the needed hug. This is what it means to belong to a community and to accept others into your community. These small acts of self giving are essential to living a life fully and being receptive to the gifts that our Lord has for us.

So too is the simple act of posing for the camera an act of self giving. As insignificant as it may seem, it builds our parish community by drawing us together for now and for posterity. It is, in the final analysis, an act of belonging. And isn't belonging to one another exactly what our Lord teaches us to do and be? The Apostles understood this as they built up the Church just as Paul exhorts us in his letters. So let's get our arms around one another and say, "Cheese"!