No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

A Past Mentor

“Oh Crumb” are the worst words I heard him say in two years as my pastor. Fr. Gerry Bensman, my second pastor as a priest, was pastor of Holy Angels in Sidney, OH. I appreciated Gerry. He was a
father figure to me.  Besides being a gentle man and a gentleman, he was a realist. One of his other sayings was “No good deed goes unpunished.” I think of this saying as I communicate wonderful progress for Crescent Parishes in unity. Of course, unity is our calling. Indeed, if Beacons of Light is boiled down to its essence, Beacons is a countermeasure to one of the Devil’s tactics: “Divide and Conquer.” The Devil longs for the world, nations, parishes, families, and even individual people to be divided. Divided, we lose focus on what is most important, and we expend our energy fruitlessly.

A New Unity
Beacons of Light calls our archdiocese to a new unity, a unity among groups of parishes, which historically has not been a value. In fact, uniqueness and competition have been the norm for parishes. That parishes have had “parish boundaries” is a sign of separateness. Boundaries are breaking, and the great unity of the Kingdom of God will be increasing!  While unity among parishes is a game changer for us, the primary value of the Church has always been unity. God is a unity of persons, the Trinity. Our spiritual goal as persons is unity with the Father, through Jesus. We become one with Jesus in sacraments of initiation and strive to live that unity better every day. Unity is the goal for families, churches, nations, and the world. Why is that unity so difficult?

The Cost of Unity
Unity is difficult because it calls us to die to self. Mysteriously, the dimensions of ourselves that aren’t yet Jesus (weakness and sin) move us to resist unity. All of our parishes can point to unities among parishes that have been accomplished through hard work, suffering, and dying to self that give witness to the Kingdom. For example, The Church of the Resurrection and Holy Trinity parishes exist because three or four parishes died to self to rise to a new unity. St. John and St. Saviour, as well as Holy Trinity and Nativity have worked together for several years in pastoral regions under one pastor. As we are reminded of the value of unity in our histories, let’s look at new unities to which we are called.

Beacons of Light Unities
Along with unities among staff, pastoral councils, liturgy commissions, and parishioners that have happened so far, Crescent Parishes, and especially the Church of the Resurrection (COR), are blessed to stand before our biggest organizational unity to date. The merging of two offices. In this article and in next week’s, I will be addressing the background for this giant step. It starts with doing not just a good deed, but a great deed. Remember, like Fr. Gerry used to say: “No good deed goes unpunished.”

A Dream and a Vision
Since the beginning of the COR twelve years ago there has been a desire to put its school building to good use for Jesus, the parish, and all the people of Bond Hill. As that desire percolated in hearts and minds, the Holy Spirit moved in mysterious ways to unite COR, the Jesuits, and Cincinnati CISE funding to become Xavier Jesuit Academy. (See last week’s bulletin article and the article below from Fr. Nathan Wendt, President of XJA.)
As the last four years of dreaming and visioning came to fruition in the recently signed lease, even after doing a great deed, COR is now experiencing what may feel like a punishment: According to their selflessness and the terms of the lease, the COR office will be torn down over the summer to make way for a brighter future for COR, Bond Hill, Crescent Parishes, and XJA. (Recall from previous articles that the office needs to be torn down so that there can be two-way traffic into/out of COR property from California Ave.)

Where to Locate COR Office
The question remains: To where should the COR office be relocated? Should it be moved to the convent on the COR property or to the Holy Trinity Office? In next week’s article, I’ll share some of the discernment that has happened over the past months by our parishes’ leadership team and the COR Pastoral Council. After their considerations and recommendations are related, I will joyfully relate the decision that I will make as pastor and the decision that propels all our parishes forward into wonderful and far-reaching Beacons of Light unity and progress.
 
Sincerely and with Love in Christ,
Fr. Pat

 

XAVIER JESUIT ACADEMY UPDATE
Progress continues towards Xavier Jesuit Academy’s goal of giving young men the chance to become great men by guiding the trajectory of their education.  The 3rd - 8th grade school addresses the education and formation needs of young men from Bond Hill & Roselawn as desired by their communities in a safe, nurturing, and faith-filled environment beginning in the fall of 2024. 
Key school leadership positions are being filled, fundraising campaigns getting underway, and extensive renovation of the school building will commence this summer.  Our principal, Kyle Chandler is hard at work developing a curriculum that will best serve our future students, along with providing them necessary support services essential to deliver the educational model. 
Hiring education staff, marketing, student recruitment, and admissions are other top areas of focus.  We are grateful for all the support we receive from the Church of the Resurrection and the Crescent Parishes. We appreciate prayers as we move the mission forward.  www.xavierja.org
Fr. Nathan Wendt, S.J., President