“Ends are not bad things, they just mean that something else is about to begin. And there are many things that don’t really end, anyway, they just begin again in a new way. Ends are not bad and many ends aren’t really an ending; some things are never-ending.”
~ C. JoyBell C.
Tomorrow is the death anniversary of the first bishop of the diocese, Bishop Andrew G. Grutka. When he passed away, the first part of our diocesan history was over. Many people took his loss to mean that it was all over. But any loss is just a new beginning. When Bishop Grutka retired, the diocese was not finished, it continued with the assignment of Bishop Gaughan. When he retired, Bishop Melczek came to our diocese. When Bishop Melczek retired, Bishop Hying was assigned to us.
We are in a bit of a waiting period right now. This is the first time in our diocesan history that we are without a bishop; yet, Canon Law provides for that by establishing the rules and procedures to have an administrator elected who can take the helm until a new bishop is assigned.
Endings are never final and are not really bad. Endings herald that something new is going to come about. Those new beginnings gives us new promise and new hope. Each time we have been assigned a new bishop, we have looked to the future to see what we could accomplish together. Each time that bishop leaves, we will receive yet another opportunity to look ahead with the arrival of someone new.
The cycles of comings and goings, of looking back and looking ahead, are continuous. When we look back, we can learn from our history and change our future in positive ways. When we look to the future, we can find new hope and dream new dreams.
In the month of November, we look to the past, present, and future in an all-inclusive way as we consider our own mortality. November is the month where, more than ever, we remember the faithful departed. For non-believers, death is the ultimate thing that happens to us and, when we die, there is nothing more.
For the believer, we know that death is merely the entrance to eternal life. Even when we speak about our loved ones as dead, we really mean that they are removed from us on this earthly plane but we know that they are waiting for us at the end of our days.
We miss people who have gone before us but we know that we will all be reunited one day. That is the promise won for us by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
FAITH ACTION: As you pray for all the faithful departed, kindly remember the repose of the souls of Bishop Grutka and Bishop Gaughan.