reMARKable!—Most of you know that an orderly brain is not one of my gifts. That means if I attempted to thank people by name I would run the risk of leaving someone very important out. When I came here thirteen years ago I had a very different idea of what it means to be an ordained father. You were the ones who taught me. I often began funerals and weddings by welcoming the visitors and telling those who grew up at St. Mark’s that instead of welcoming them into their own home, I want to thank them for welcoming me into their home. And so I say it to all of you: Thank you for welcoming me into your home these last thirteen years. It is natural that we should be sad about parting. St. Mark’s was here a long time before I came along and it will be here long after I leave. My first mission in coming to St. Mark’s was to love you. It was never my intention to draw you to myself, but to draw you into the source of my love for you—the Father’s heart. Pastors come and go, but the Love of God endures forever. I too am sad about leaving you. I have known some of you ever since I came to Peoria 24 years ago. I knew you when you were teens, I was there for your weddings, baptisms, and now for your children’s weddings. We cried together as we let loved one’s go into he Fathers’ arms in heaven. We rejoiced together over miracles. It was a privilege to share your walk through some pretty heavy struggles. When I am tempted to worry about what will happen after I leave the Lord reminds me that the future never did depend on me and that He is in charge. Even though it is a rebuke, it comforts me. You honored me when you invited me into those places in your hearts that you had locked all others out of. Some of you had the courage to correct me when I was out of line and I appreciated it. I even respected those who grumbled under their breaths from time to time. You forgave me when I blew it and you gave me credit for so many things that others had done. ST. MARK PARISH www.saint-mark.net June 30, 2024 You smiled and nodded politely during stale homilies. I know that over the years there are parishioners who have sought out other parishes because they didn’t like my style and I know that we have new parishioners because they did prefer my style. No doubt some may not appreciate the new pastor’s style and others will come back because of it. None of that has ever worried me. Some are offended where others are edified. But I never pretended that I had the power to give you faith in Jesus Christ nor did I ever worry that I could have done something that would take it away. If we honor the words of Sacred Scripture as we say we do, then we know that ‘For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:31-35)
Monsignor Brownsey