From the Heart of the Shepherd

From the bulletin for The Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2026 February 08)

Feb 8 - 5th Sunday OT

There is a heartening billboard northbound on Highway 52 that encourages the “red and the blue”, the “left and the right” to talk, for a change. Billboards rarely cheer my heart. But this one did. Yet it also raises the doubt: where will such conversations occur? True spaces of public forum are rare in our society.  In last week’s column I expressed the wish that St. Mark’s would be such a space. But for that to be the case, our parish must first prove to be a place of encounter and reconciliation for its own; a society in which diverse perspectives are reconciled in Christ. 

In the past week God granted a partial fulfillment of that wish. I was part of a small group meeting of couples from the parish. In the course of the conversation and prayer, there was some very intentional and sincere sharing about how the events of recent weeks have affected folks. For example, a nurse shared about the pain among her coworkers who haven’t had the opportunity to process together the Pretti shooting. Another spoke to the isolating effect of being intensely concerned about what was going on yet not feeling safe about speaking frankly about it with anyone outside of the household on account of the political polarization and complexity of the issues. Others echoed the frustration that “no one is talking about this,” though everyone is thinking about it and, of course, consuming media (social and otherwise) about it. 

Well, that night people talked. Not exhaustively, to be sure. But sincerely and reverently. Enough to hear where people were coming from, how they were affected, what they were thinking… even a little engagement with “the issues” in play. No one was on exactly the same page. But there was no arguing or the taking of sides. Rather than a growing rift, one could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. The sharing of perspectives broadened the perspectives of all. Prayer was heartfelt, and the fruit of the conversation was greater communion. The Church was being built up, and hearts were being knit together in Jesus. And the effect was to dispel, at least in part, the isolation everyone had been experiencing previously–siloed, as we tend to be, in the immediacy of our personal vocations, slanted by our own ways of seeing things, and colored by talking heads we tend to follow. 

Yes, “how good and anointed it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Ps 133:1) Whenever we gather, at least two or three in Jesus name, we can repeat with St. Peter that “it is good for us to be here” (Mt 17:4). The devil is ever at work to divide and conquer, if we let him, while the Spirit of Jesus is always seeking to accomplish His prayer “that [we] might all be one” (Jn 17:21). 

Make no mistake: the Sunday Eucharist is our most powerful engine of unity. Jesus makes us one in a supernatural way, members of the same Body and filled with the same Spirit. But the liturgy and the Sacrament do not exhaust the lived communion of the Church. They are its bedrock and its culmination… but there is a distance to be traversed between each terminus. As we have been hearing now for several years, Christians also need to belong to a circle of disciples who meet regularly in Christ to know and be known in a way that is simply not possible at Sunday Mass… or even Coffee & Donuts.

Do you have a small group yet? If so, is that group a place of true communion and intimacy? Can you discuss “taboo” subjects and express yourselves with candor and trust? Is the fruit of your meetings the upbuilding of the Church?

If you don’t have a small group yet, when will you? Could this be the Lent you find yours? At St. Mark’s, all of our small groups have been encouraged to open themselves up to newcomers (dividing if necessary!) and to take as the topic of their discussion an explanation of the Sunday readings. In this way, we can prepare for the Lord’s Day together during the week, and open spaces of encounter, reconciliation, and communion in Christ in our hurting Metro. 

From the Heart of the Shepherd: The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time