Respond Well
“Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.”
~ Lou Holtz
We had a couple of meetings yesterday. We being the diocesan consultors and the diocesan priests’ council. As you may or may not know, we recently heard that our bishop, Donald J. Hying, was named the new bishop of Madison, Wisconsin. That means that we will be awaiting word from Rome about a new bishop for the Diocese of Gary.
We heard yesterday that the news might not be forthcoming in the near future. As a matter of fact, most people think that it will be at least at the end of the year before we find out who our new bishop will be. Because of that, there are things that the consultors need to do to prepare for the interim up to and including electing an administrator from within the diocese until an episcopal assignment can be made.
Knowing all of this does not make it any easier on us. There is still anxiety about who the new bishop will be, when he will be announced, what changes we may need to face, and the like. As some of us get older — I’m raising my hand on that one — we are also saying that we hope the next bishop remains for a while because we don’t want to have to go through another change in a long time.
Change is never easy. Change is never fun. But change is not only inevitable, it can be life-giving and productive. We are in the midst of the Easter season. I often wonder how many people embraced the changes that happened in life because of the resurrection of Jesus and how many people refused to change. The new reality won for them by Jesus may have been threatening to some because the new reality implied the necessity to change.
God calls all of us to move from one thing to another throughout our lives. Let us remain open to the invitation of the Lord and pray for the grace and courage to embrace the changes that come about in our lives.
FAITH ACTION: Pray for Bishop Hying as he prepares to move to the Diocese of Madison and pray for the Diocese of Gary as we await the announcement of a new bishop.