What is a parish?
The people who go to my church.
The other people at Mass on Sunday.
The church and the school and the people that go to them.
Ask a few Catholics what a parish is, and they'll give you a host of answers. Most of them will say something like what was written above. Perhaps something a shade more intimate.
But ask a priest, and get a different story. He'll probably say one of two things: either it's a "flock" or a "family" (the really good priests will say both).
That's because these are his two main duties. He's been ordained to be a shepherd (which is the root meaning of the word "pastor"). He tends to his flock, seeing to their safety and making sure they grow strong and healthy.
He's also been given the name "father" to precede his own, and is expected to act as a father would to his family. He provides for them, guides them, and cares for them. He loves his parish like a father would his children.
And for a priest, a parish really is his family. His actual family. Seriously. The way you view your husband or wife or kids? That is how the priest do.
First, he's madly in love with his parish. He's given his entire life for them. He's made a host of heroic sacrifices just to give them every part of himself. The parish is his spouse, and he provides for them in the most important of ways.
Secondly, he's terribly annoyed by them. Just like you get with your family. All those little quirks and excuses and complaints; oh yah, these get on his nerves. But that's part of being a family. He complains about his parish to other priests like a father complains about his family to the guys.
Third, he's incredibly loyal to them. A priest usually hates spending time away from the parish. If he's gone, he's usually thinking about the different families and the rectory and the things that he might be missing. It's rather obnoxious actually. You can't go anywhere without him talking about this and that parishioner and whatnot. And he'll defend his parish to other priests like a father will defend his family to the guys.
Fourth, he grows as a person for the sole purpose of better providing for his family. He stays healthy so he can be flexible with his time and attention. He studies scripture and the spiritual life and the news and literature and everything just so he can better instruct his family in the beauty of the Gospel. He's forgone marriage and the miracle of sex in order to give his entire self to them. Like a father with his wife and children, the priest does not live for himself. Every decision is made with the well-being of his parish in mind.
The sacrificial love of a priest is extraordinary. And for him, the parish really is his family. He needs the people like a father needs family.
Every once in a while, people get it. They realize that the parish is a family.
And that's a beautiful moment. The love is requited, and they become exemplary members of the parish community.
And their gifts can be absolutely wonderful.
Like this morning. Joe was a Extraordinary Minister and was going up the aisle before Communion. He stopped when he got to me, gave me a hug, and said "you go." He wanted me to take his place. He told me, "it's your last week, and you deserve it."
Joe loves being an Extraordinary Minister. Loves it. He has the biggest smile on his face when he does it, because he understands what he's doing.
And in that moment, he wanted to give me a gift. This gift was immensely valuable, like the old woman with the two coins. This was a gift given from the heart, and it brought a tear to my eye (I hope people didn't think I was sick, sniffling while saying "the Blood of Christ").
This summer, I left my college, my friends, and my family. I moved across the country and into the rectory of a strange place. I had no choice but to imitate the pastor, and therefore found myself embracing the parish as my family.
And Joe got it. In two words, he gave me the most perfect gift imaginable.
Parish life is pretty grand, if you ask me.
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