August 17, 2008

Dear friends in life and in ministry . . .

Postponed a few days due to the funeral and memorial services for my beloved former pastor and friend Fr. Francis R. Davis, I joined Pat at Chautauqua for ten days vacation on Thursday morning. It usually takes me two or three days to get into a relaxed mode, and hopefully, today will be the day that I'll assume that demeanor.

This is such a lovely place and the opportunities for personal and intellectual growth here are abundant. But Pat and I also have responsibilities here as house managers and so my arrival did not mean that total leisure could begin for either of us. Hopefully, the change in responsibilities for me will ease a few of those that Pat has born throughout the season and we'll both benefit.

My column this weekend "Hidden Treasures" includes a eulogy for Fr. Frank that I've intertwined with a story that I recently received from a friend.

I'd also ask your prayers for two other friends of mine Patty and Terry, both of who have accepted an ongoing health challenges.

Enjoy your week.

This Week's Column: August 17, 2008 - Hidden Treasures

A few weeks ago, a friend sent me this story concerning the importance of
treasuring each person as a special gift of God.

A man was exploring caves by the Seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him.

As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could. He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock.. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!

Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left.

Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!

It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it. We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy. But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person.

There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.

May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay. May we see the people in our world as God sees them.

Just such a treasure went to the Lord’s embrace last week. Father Francis R. Davis was a gentle, thoughtful and totally dedicated priest of the Diocese of Rochester for over 63 years.

I met Fr. Davis in early 1980 when, after moving to Corning, I wads seeking a home for “Celebrate Life” the teen musical group I had formed eleven years earlier in Horseheads. Fr. Frank agreed to let us use St. Patrick’s School building and park our bus in his parking lot. For four years, St. Patrick’s was our home base as we traveled throughout the area and state giving concerts and producing shows such as Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar. Following my ordination in 1982, Fr. Davis invited me to share his pulpit at St. Patrick’s each month in addition to my assignment at St. Mary’s, Corning.

Following his retirement in 1990, Fr. Davis and I became a presider/deacon team in the newly formed Corning-Painted Post Roman Catholic Community. Each weekend I would join Fr. Davis on the altar for two or three Masses. One weekend he would preach. I would preach the next.

In over twenty years of working with Fr. Davis, I never heard him say an negative word against any human being. I came to love him as a person without ego - the only such person I have ever met. A humble, innocent and extremely generous man, Fr. Davis occasionally found himself being taken advantage of by people who would regular visit the rectory for assistance. Yet, time and again, he opened his wallet and trusting heart to them - without judgment or regret.

Fr. Frank was a voracious reader, a trait that suited him well in his first priestly assignment at the librarian of St. Bernard’s Seminary. Later he served as pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in Elmira and St. Mary’s, Dansville before beginning his ministry at St. Patrick’s.

This kind and gentle man, remained faithful to his daily recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours, daily Mass and rosary throughout his priesthood. He spent the last years of his life at the Sisters of St. Joseph Motherhouse and Infirmary in Rochester, breviary at bedside.

I had the privilege of preaching at a Memorial Mass for Fr. Davis which was held At St. Mary’s in Corning on Wednesday night and also attending his Funeral Mass (with Fr. Jim) on Monday morning at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Rochester

Before leaving for a delayed vacation on Thursday morning, I signed a few checks that it is important that you know about. These included:

· The July Bath Gas and Electric bill of $868.

· Our monthly 4% of collections tithe to Catholic Charities - $498

· Our monthly Catholic Courier Bill of $239

· And our annual insurance bill of $28,669.

Yes, you read that correctly. Our annual insurance bill is $28,669. While we must pay this amount up-front for the entire fiscal year, it breaks down to a monthly cost of $2,389.08 to insure our church, rectory, the Zimmer Center and O’Malley Hall as well as workman’s comp. and disability insurance for our paid staff. To cover this bill, we used the $8,200 raised by the UNFAIR, $10,469 from our operating budget and an additional $10,000 from our Investment savings fund.

In early September, I’ll mail a 2007-2008 State of the Parish Report which will include last year’s financial statements and our 2008-2009 budget summary. Then we’ll schedule a Town Meeting to discuss these reports and seek your input on ways that we might effectively face our continually rising financial obligations.

I want you to know how grateful I am to you for your personal support for my ministry here at St. Mary’s and for the very generous ways that you support the work of your parish.

Deacon Ray

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Bulletin: August 17th, 2008