I recently rescued a dog. She’s a terrier and rather adorable. And she’s crazy about me. She could spend all day with me. But I’m a pastor at a parish and sometimes I leave her at the front desk of the church office. She constantly amazes me by her ability to distinguish between my voice and that of everyone else. If I say one word, even if I’m hidden around a corner, she’ll sprint toward me and jump up into my arms.

I always feel a little sad when someone begins to speak to me with the words, “Father, I know you’re so busy, but …” It happens a lot. And I get it. He or she is trying to be respectful of my time. But it saddens me because a priest makes Jesus present to people in a special way, and Jesus always has time for us. Don’t we all feel at times that God just doesn’t have time for us?

A young, engaged couple sat on the couch in front of me as we chatted about their upcoming marriage. The young lady was struggling to trust her future husband. She told me her father had been unfaithful to her mother. She said of her fiancé, “I want him to prove to me that he won’t cheat on me.” The young man looked at me helplessly, raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders. What evidence could he possibly give to validate such a proof? Nothing. All he could do was invite her to trust him. 

“When Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.” (Mark 16:9)

Popular Catholic piety sometimes posits that the newly risen Jesus appears first to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is a happy thought, but it’s simply not what the scriptures report. We are told quite directly that he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, “out of whom he had driven seven demons.”

What’s your car? Let’s say it’s a fancy silver Toyota. Now imagine you’re having lunch in a restaurant and suddenly see two men outside attempting to steal it. You run outside and confront them. They respond, “The master has need of it.” How do you respond? Would you just let them take it, and leave you without a car? I don’t think I would.