“Our Model—St. Gregory  or  Moe, Larry & Curly?”

Originally Posted June 9, 2021

In today’s world the “news” just doesn’t cover your local town, but your state, the nation, and the world. In the church, you don’t just know about your local pastor, but the neighboring parishes and dioceses, the bishops, the U.S. , and the world. Every day you hear the “news”… mainly the bad or disturbing news…often somewhat inaccurate or biased or not true. 

Here we sit with our little computer and TV mulling over the billions of people and  the trillions of issues, trying to solve the world’s problems…. what am I going to do about North Korea ? Have you heard about the corona virus deaths in India ? Can you believe what the German bishops are saying ? I’m not even going to bring up the recent nosedive the St. Louis Cardinals have taken.. they’ve lost 7 of 10 and are now in 3^rd place…..are you kidding me….. 

Today I was reading a little blurb on St. Gregory the Great, pope and doctor of the church, who died in 604. I was so impressed with what he was able to do in the midst of another chaotic time of history. “His pontificate was to decisively shape the Church’s position vis-à-vis the ruling world powers for hundreds of years”. Wow, talk about a resume… something to put on your tombstone. Yet it goes on to say that he also focused on the details and nitty gritty of developing pastoral formation for his bishops, preparing stories on the lives of the saints, helping the poor, reordering the divine office…. ever heard of Gregorian Chant. It also says he did all this while suffering daily with chronic stomach pain and gout. ( ref. Magnificat, June 8, 2021) He was one man. Did he ever look at all the problems and be tempted to give up, to crawl in to a hole ? Maybe… but he didn’t …he obviously got up every day, prayed and moved ahead in the power of the Holy Spirit. He was one man, but a great man, a holy man. 

May God raise up more great men today…. great and holy men and women…saints. We need saints today who aren’t afraid to do God’s will despite the turmoil. 

Well, what about us? What about you and me? No one elected me Pope… I’m not the Pope. So, can I just crawl into a hole and watch “3 Stooges Reruns”…. hmmmm, while that may seem like a good idea at times, let me say unequivocally, that is not a good strategy….Moe, Larry, and Curly are not good role models, and most of their ideas did not work out well. 

So for our part, let’s emulate St. Gregory in doing our part…whether a major or minor role. Let’s rise each morning and give the day to the Lord, let’s pray and ask for grace to do our part as a father, mother, grandparent, boss, employee, and especially as a disciple of the Lord Jesus. When Christ comes again, let him find us at work… doing our daily tasks.. daily our small tasks done with great love. And let him see us with a smile on our face, with joy in our heart knowing that we serve an awesome God. And let us remember that while the “weeds grow up with the wheat”, Christ  will sort all of that out later and all will be well. Yes, all will be well with our souls…for now and for all eternity. Wow, that is very good news.