A little goes a long way

Since I'm in the process of preparing my Lines from the Reading Chair for this week's parish bulletin, I thought I'd share a sneak peak at this week's reflection with readers of the blog:

I'm a firm believer in the principle that a little bit of kindness goes a very long way. This has been borne out in the a number of ways over the past little while.

For the past couple of years, I've invited the priests who are active in parishes throughout the city where I live to join us for a meal on a fw occasions, most notably a few days before the beginning of the liturgical season of Advent and then again a few days before the beginning of Lent.

The parish where I live and exercise my ministry is one of only two or three across the diocese who are lucky enough to employ a full-time cook so it's a rare occasion for the priests of the diocese (or at least the area) to be able to get together in such numbers to enjoy a meal without having to go to a restaurant, and all those who have joined us have been most appreciative of this small gesture of hospitality.

At the time of the most recent priests' gathering this past Advent, I noticed that the retired priests who live in the region were not present, so last week I invited all the priests who have served in various parishes and who are now retired to come for a meal. This turned out to be a wonderful evening: an opportunity for some who have not seen one another for quite some time to spend a moment or two in casual conversation, and a chance for colleagues to get caught up on the happenings of our lives.

Tonight, I invited the principals and some of the teachers from the schools where our parishioners' children are in attendance to come for supper. Like the invitations issued to the priests, this was an occasion for teachers and principals to spend some unstructured time together, and a chance to thank them for their dedication to the education and formation of our children.

It was also an opportunity to share with them the dates for upcoming parent and student meetings in preparation for the celebration of First Reconciliation and First Communion, but most of all, it was a time to open some doors of communication between the parish and our schools.

In many ways, a little bit of effort does indeed go a long way. The results of these efforts will be borne in the future. Stay tuned. It will be fun to see where it goes from here.