We Are One Family In Christ

I would like to thank all of those, especially the Community Building Committee, for all of their hard work in preparing for my Installation Mass and reception this Sunday. I am so deeply honored to be installed your pastor here at St. Edward’s.
              It has been a tough couple of weeks being a priest or even a Catholic with all of the bad press that the Church has been getting. I gave a difficult homily last week about it and I was overwhelmed and humbled by your support. As our seminarian Christian Huebner put it so well in his last reflection with us: "We are one family in Christ Jesus."
Jesus says in the Scriptures this weekend what it takes to make a family. Jesus says that husbands should be willing to die for their wives as Jesus died for the Church. This would have been as scandalously progressive in Jesus' day as His other saying, "wives should be subordinate to their husbands," seems as scandalously regressive in our day. However, there is a timeless deeper motivation to the sacrifice of the husband and the obedience of the wife - love. When a husband is willing to sacrifice for his wife out of love, seeing his virtue, his wife is willing to let him lead. And when a wife is willing to be subordinate to her husband, it stirs the husband's heart to lay down his life for his wife.
In the family of faith, a pastor should be willing to die, to lay down his life, for his spouse the Church. In my case, I look forward to laying down my life for all of you here at St. Edward’s since I have come to know and love you so much. I am so glad you have welcomed me here at St. Edward’s and I look forward to our years together as one family in Christ Jesus. 

God Bless,
              Fr. Scott