I want to start tonight by saying how much of an honor and privilege it is for me to share this significant anniversary with you as Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish. It’s not often that you get to mark such a significant moment in the life of a parish, and I am blessed to stand with all of you in this time where we get to look back and look forward. Looking back, I am filled with awe and gratitude at all that God has done in the last 125 years. When you think about all the many lives that have been touched by this parish, it really hits you. Every single one of you celebrating this 125th Anniversary Mass is here because somehow, your life has been touched by what Jesus has done in this community.
Some of you are friends of people in our parish, here because of the love and kindness shown to you. Some are spouses, here because this parish has made your spouse the person he or she is, giving him or her the strength, love and wisdom to weather the good times and bad with you. Many of you are here because this has been your spiritual home since before you can even remember. You were born here, baptized here, received first Reconciliation and First Communion, right here, got married here and one day, will have your funeral here. Some of you are even returning here after being away. This parish family occupies a warm place in your heart that can’t be replaced by anything else. This parish is special. Even in the short time that I’ve been here as pastor, I have seen it in so many ways. I’ve seen it in the loving laughter of family and friends talking after Mass. I’ve seen it in the bright faces of our school children as they learn about the love of God. I’ve seen it in the loving care poured out on our parishioners in their mourning. I’ve seen it every time we celebrate Mass together. This parish is a place where God is at work in your lives.
In thinking about this anniversary for Sacred Heart, the Holy Spirit brought somebody unexpected to mind: an elderly lady I knew during my college days at The Ohio State University. Her name was Mary Jane, and I came to know her during my time as a parishioner at Holy Name Parish. Located very close to the campus, Holy Name was my home during my years at OSU and I shared it with Mary Jane, who was probably in her 80’s or 90’s and came to Mass almost every day. As a frequenter of daily Mass myself, I often saw her walking to the church, hunched over and relying on the support of a sturdy walking stick. Mary Jane was a feisty old woman, and my fellow roommates and I who got to know her through seeing her at church would often call out, “Hey Mary Jane!” when we saw her on the way to Mass. Most of the time, she would just give us a wiley grin, shake her head and keep walking. I didn’t realize it at the time, but she was an example of the power of Jesus at work in that parish family. It didn’t matter what the weather was like–rain, shine, snow, ice–there was Mary Jane, making her way slowly down the street to pile into the little daily Mass chapel on the side of the church with a bunch of rowdy college kids who gave her a hard time. She came there because she loved the Lord, and it showed.
The reason I believe the Holy Spirit brought her to mind is because what drew her to Mass every day is the same thing that draws you and me together here tonight. It’s the love of Jesus poured out for us, a love that invites us to respond. That love is what drew Mary Jane to keep on coming to church, making it a priority even in her old age. And I could tell the same story about several parishioners who are here all the time for Mass even in their old age, but I know they would be embarrassed. I see you out there right now; you know who you are. You all remind us of the importance of what we celebrate here, the absolute centrality of what happens day after day within these walls. And this is why we celebrate tonight, because as much as things have changed over the past 125 years, in many ways, the most important things remain constant.
Think back to the 100th Anniversary Mass celebrated here at Sacred Heart in 1997. Twenty-five years ago, as many of you celebrated that momentous anniversary, I was the ripe old age of 10, going on 11. But even at that time, I had already received Jesus in First Communion a couple of years before. Already Jesus was laying the groundwork of faith in my heart which would one day draw me to the seminary and eventually bring me to you as your pastor. For all of you, that moment was a time to celebrate how God had blessed your families, and to look forward to all that He would continue to do. These last twenty-five years have flown by for me, and I’m sure for all of you. Think about all of the changes that have happened even during that relatively short period of time–the internet has exploded, smartphones were invented, multiple rovers went to Mars, 9-11 happened, several wars were fought, and we all went through a global pandemic.
Stop though. Take a moment and put your hand on your chest. Close your eyes and listen. Throughout all the change, that heartbeat remains, until your final moment. That heartbeat reminds us of what is constant. Deep down, even as we grow and change and the world changes, the deepest needs are the same. The needs of our soul. Throughout history, every man and woman has had desires to love and be loved, to find their purpose and meaning in life. Think of that candle shining brightly in our sanctuary, a light which reminds us that Jesus in the Eucharist is always present here. Jesus’ abundant love is constantly poured out for us from this altar and in so many other ways. Throughout the many changes in this community and in the world, that little candle has remained lit to remind us of the constancy of Jesus’ love, which fulfills those deepest desires of our hearts.
This is why we gather to celebrate today and every day. We gather because Jesus became one of us. He took on a human heart and experienced all that we experience, while remaining sinless. He died and rose to bring us the freedom and love that our hurting and broken hearts long for. Where sin and death threaten all we hold dear, the Sacred Heart of Jesus beats right now to remind us that God’s love is bigger, stronger and more lasting than anything this world offers. His love is the foundation from which we are called to live, a love that is tangibly present to us in the Sacraments, the Scriptures, and the communion of brothers and sisters who show us the love of God.
So as we gather to celebrate tonight, it is not to simply celebrate the 125 years during which this building has stood. It is an opportunity to take stock of how God is laying a deeper foundation in each of our own hearts now and every day. This church, in all its physical beauty, is only here to help build the same beauty within us. As we heard from St. Paul in the second reading, each of us is God’s temple, a dwelling place for God Himself! That is something worth celebrating. Each of us has the ability to share in the life of God, to be transformed by the grace we receive from this altar in order to be sent out into the world as a light for others. That transformation of hearts down through the generations is what has sustained this parish for all these years, and that is the way it will continue. Each of us is meant to be filled up by God’s grace in such a way that we become channels of that grace for others.
The vision of the prophet Ezekial in the first reading was of pure water flowing out from the temple to bring new life wherever it went. This Anniversary Mass reminds us of that unchanging call for each of us to be like that water flowing from the temple as we go forth from this church. The way that this parish will continue to thrive for the next 125 years is if we all recognize that God’s love isn’t meant just to remain in us, to remain in this house of worship; it is meant to spread forth and touch every person we encounter. Jesus’ Sacred Heart, for which our Church is named, beats not only for each of us, but for those who have lost faith in Him, those who have wandered far, those who have never known Him. He desires to pour into us the love which will capture those hearts that are far from Him, to bring them new life.
In the Gospel, Jesus says to the Samaritan woman: “the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.” Right now, I invite all of you to be open to this type of worship. In this church, Jesus wants to fill us anew with the fire of His Holy Spirit, to fill our hearts to overflowing with the same love that has burned in the hearts of believers ever since Jesus died, rose from the grave, and sent His Holy Spirit into the Church on Pentecost. He wants to light each of our Hearts anew with the flame of the Holy Spirit coming forth from His Sacred Heart so that our lives might shine. The more we open ourselves to Him and cooperate with His abundant grace, the more our lives will be lived as a continuous act of worship through living in Jesus, who is the Truth. Our worship here in Spirit and Truth is meant to flow out into our daily lives, so that every moment is filled with God’s love and new life. Our lives can become an act of worship, of lovingly giving ourselves to the One Who has loved us from eternity!
I pray that in the coming years, our parish lives up to its name even more by being a type of living heart for this community. Think about the work of a heart. It draws in blood starved for oxygen, fills it up and sends it out into the body. That is exactly what Jesus wants this parish named after His Heart to continue to be and to be even more deeply: a beating heart for the people of Coshocton and beyond, which draws people into the life changing love of God, fills them up and sends them out on mission. Praise God for His life changing love that has drawn us here for 125 years, the love of Jesus’ Sacred Heart which has brought us here tonight. I pray that each of us continues to respond to His love with all of our hearts for years to come.
Let’s pray together the prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which we recite at every Mass here. If you don’t know it, the words are on the back of your program.
+ O Sacred Heart of Jesus, fountain of eternal life,
Your heart glows with complete love.
You are my refuge and my hope.
Most adorable and loving Savior,
consume my heart with the fire of Your love.
Pour down on my soul those graces
that flow from Your loving heart.
Let my heart be united with Yours,
let my will be conformed to Yours in all things.
May Your will be the rule of all my desires and actions.
Amen. +