EAST CHICAGO – Delia Diaz called it a privilege and honor to have the Bishop of Gary at her home parish on Feb. 16. She enthusiastically announced Most Reverend Bishop Robert J. McClory as the celebrant during opening remarks to start the Mass at St. Mary.
“It is a great joy to be with you here today,” Bishop McClory said to the faithful gathered at the East Chicago parish. “The Lord has given us a great scripture passage. It's The Beatitudes, and it shows us that even if they're suffering in pain and discomfort, all those who trust and hope the Lord will be blessed.”
The bishop welcomed the opportunity to preside over Sunday morning Mass while pastor Father Julio Bedoya was away on retreat. Prior to the celebration, the shepherd was made aware that there would be some special individuals in attendance.
At the beginning of his homily, Bishop McClory took a moment to recognize the youth in the church who are preparing for the sacrament of confirmation, asking them to raise their hands as the parish community offered them a round of applause.
Bishop McClory then turned his attention to the younger children in attendance who are preparing for the sacrament of Holy Communion. After encouraging a round of applause for them as well, he posed a question. “What are you most looking forward to on your First Communion?” he asked.
“Receiving the Bread of Life,” said one child.
“Receiving the body and blood of Jesus,” added another.
Next, Bishop McClory asked them to consider how they feel when they are hungry. He called to mind those feelings of hunger when a person may start to become tired, fatigued, listless and even a little angry when they are in need of food.
“You know, we can be a little bit irritable without energy; when we do not have the strength to do what we need to do,” he said. “And this is what Jesus says, ‘Blessed are those who are hungry, for they will be satisfied.’”
“Jesus tells us that there will be those who will oppose us, those who will exclude us, those who will shut us out,” he said. “In the Gospel he reminds us to rejoice and leap for joy on that day. Now this sounds a little crazy, like how can we take something so painful and do that ... But part of it is because Jesus wants to feed us. Jesus wants us to be dependent upon him. Jesus wants us to rely on him and say, ‘I need you.’”
Bishop McClory reminded the St. Mary parish community that Jesus knew the difficult situations families face due to his own experiences. The Holy Family can bring to mind beautiful images of the Nativity scene, he said, but they also traveled to a distant land to register for a census and along the way were repeatedly told there was no room available where they could rest.
“When the baby Jesus was born, there was more joy than we've ever felt or experienced before,” said Bishop McClory. “The angels came and rejoiced and the shepherds gathered. Mary and Joseph could have fixated on that moment of being shut out, but ultimately the joy of Jesus's birth overwhelmed the difficulty in finding a place for him to be born.”
The Church’s solidarity with those who are migrants is not something that's new, Bishop McClory pointed out as he read the words of Pope Francis from a Feb. 10 letter to the United States Bishops, citing the words with which Pope Pius XII began his Apostolic Constitution on the Care of Migrants:
"The family of Nazareth in exile, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, emigrants in Egypt and refugees there to escape the wrath of an ungodly king, are the model, the example and the consolation of emigrants and pilgrims of every age and country, of all refugees of every condition who, beset by persecution or necessity, are forced to leave their homeland, beloved family and dear friends for foreign lands." (Exsul Familia Nazarethana, Apostolic Constitution, Pope Pius XII – 1952)
With those words in mind, Bishop McClory stated that the faithful can look to the Holy Family as an example of those who are fleeing from a situation, particularly of persecution.
“Like Mary and Joseph there are people in our own communities who have left their own homeland in search of safety,” he said. “As we know, those people are often faith-filled, loving, caring, contributing members of our communities and of our churches.”
Bishop McClory said he wanted to offer a word of solidarity for those who might be experiencing their own sense of exclusion, or maybe have loved ones of whom they are fearful as to their situation – co-workers and community members for whom their hearts might be heavy.
“I want to offer you a word of comfort based on The Beatitudes,” he said. “The Lord is always going to feed us. And those moments of pain and suffering are not the end of the story. But the end of the story is the love of Jesus and he tells us our reward will be great.”
He continued, “If you're hungry there's no better food than the Eucharist. If you need more of the power of God, there's no better remedy than the Holy Spirit of Confirmation. The Lord doesn't want us to be alone. Let's embrace the joy of the Beatitudes. Let’s know that Jesus is our source of comfort.”
Chasidy Raygoza, an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion who also assists with religious education, said it was great to have the parishioners, especially the kids, to have the opportunity to hear from the bishop. “We always include his name during our prayers at each Mass,” she said. “So, now they're able to see who Bishop McClory is. He has a very good way of explaining, and the homily was very detailed.”
Raygoza added the parish is like a big family with huge love and loyalty for one another. The bishop seemed to agree, too.
“There’s a beauty of the family of faith that you have here,” Bishop McClory told the congregation. “Whenever I come here, everyone is always so warm and gracious. When Father comes back you can tell him I was bragging about you because you are really a great blessing.”