Good shepherds

Remember to pray for your bishops

Apr 20, 2024

Good morning and happy Saturday and happy Easter. Our Easter season continues as we hear about Jesus describing himself as the Good Shepherd.

At Mass on Sunday we will hear readings from Acts 4:8-12; Psalm 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28-29; 1 John 3:1-2; and John 10:11-18.

In the Liturgy of the Hours, we are continuing into Psalter Week IV. Here is a calendar for the rest of the week:
Tuesday, April 23 - Memorial of Saint George, Martyr (optional) or Saint Adalbert of Prague, Bishop and Martyr (optional)
Wednesday, April 24 - Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Priest and Martyr (optional)
Thursday, April 25 - Feast of Saint Mark

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my sheep, and mine know me.

John 10:14

In the news:

It hasn’t been a very good week for Bishop Robert Gruss in the Diocese of Saginaw. At the beginning of the week, he had to respond to a resignation from one of his pastors. I’ll explain that story first.

As reported by FOX17 in Grand Rapids and TV5 in Saginaw, Father Thomas Held resigned after a homosexual author was permitted to read his children’s book to pre-schoolers at St. Joseph the Worker in Beal City. He apologized in a since deleted post on Facebook and said that a vetting policy would be put in place before guests are permitted to present to students.

That didn’t sit well for some parishioners of St. Joseph the Worker Parish. According to a separate report by FOX17 in Grand Rapids, some parishioners claim he present the Catholic faith in a “respectable manner.” Maybe that is true; I don’t know anymore than what has been published in the media.

I do know, however, the Diocese of Saginaw said that Father Held responded appropriately. In a separate statement published on the diocesan website, Bishop Robert Gruss said the following (in its entirety):

Because of the unfortunate situation at St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Beal City, Fr. Thomas Held has come to the decision that it would be impossible for him to bring unity to the parish, and therefore, he has tendered his resignation as the pastor, effective immediately. Until a new pastor is assigned, the weekend Masses will be covered by a visiting priest.
The division, lack of charity and the wounds caused by the division in the St. Joseph the Worker Parish community has brought deep sadness to the Lord Jesus, especially when we are living in the Light of the Resurrection we celebrated on Easter Sunday. Jesus weeps when he sees division and disunity in the Body of Christ, his Church. It is not his desire nor his will. The Gospel of Jesus calls all of us to be a healing presence in the community in which we live and worship. “So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.” Matthew 18:35
My prayers and concern go out to all the members of St. Joseph the Worker Catholic community, that Christ’s peace may be a uniting force for a greater good.

Now, I have a lot of thoughts about individuals that would essentially air their dirty laundry with the pastor of a Church they say they don’t attend anymore or parishioners creating a public Facebook page calling for the removal of their pastor. Most of those thoughts are not helpful to the conversation I want to have today.

Situations like these are what all of our bishops have to deal with around this country. It is one of the reasons I don’t envy our bishops and the job they have. They must respond to these situations with pastoral care and help re-orient people to the reason we are members of a Church.

In a separate issue involving Bishop Gruss this week, the progressive publication the National Catholic Reporter published a report about a one minute section of a nearly hour long talk the bishop gave on forgiveness last week. In that talk, Bishop Gruss called President Biden “stupid.” Here are his comments:

I don't have any anger toward the president. I feel sorry for him. I'm not angry at him, he's just stupid. It's not stupidity in a derogatory way. It's stupidity in the sense of he doesn't know until he does things. So I'm not angry at him, I feel sorry for him, that's different.

Poor choice of words? Yes, and Bishop Gruss admitted that to the Catholic News Agency and apologized. Worthy of an 850 word article and the buzz it created on social media? Not really.

In fact, I think the bishop’s response to the situation at St. Joseph the Worker is much more newsworthy than the Biden story simply because it shows more accurately what his strengths and weaknesses may be as a leader.

But the Reporter chose to cover the Biden story because they knew it would generate clicks and discussion on social media.

That is the second issue the bishops have to deal with that I don’t envy: the scrutiny on petty things, such as this, and the clicks that it generates. It detracts from their mission to be shepherds.

This Sunday in the Gospel we hear Jesus say, “A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” If that is not a good mission statement for the bishops, I don’t know what is.

Our bishops, whether we agree with them on their governing decisions or pastoral priorities, are our shepherds and we need them. They need our prayers. I urge you to make a special effort to pray for Bishop Gruss, your local bishop, and the bishops around the world this weekend and next week.

Let me know if you agree or disagree with me in the comments or connect with me on X (@RadioHandley).

Good shepherds

Remember to pray for your bishops

In the news:

The United States

The Vatican

The World