My Friend Ray

This Sunday's Gospel tells us that when Jesus looked upon the crowds, He was moved with compassion because they were "like sheep without a shepherd." 

Then He did something remarkable. 

He called ordinary men, gave them a mission, and sent them into the harvest. 

As I sat with this Sunday's readings, I couldn't help but think about my friend Ray. 
For most of our parish, he is ‘Father Ray’. For me, he is also a friend. 

This Sunday will be his final Sunday with our parish before he begins a new assignment. As difficult as it is to see him go, these readings seem almost providentially chosen for this moment. Because they describe exactly the kind of priest he has been. 

‘Father Ray’ came to us as a missionary priest from India. This was his first assignment. He arrived in a place far from home, far from family, far from everything familiar, and yet he embraced the people entrusted to his care with a generosity that reflected the heart of Christ. 

The first reading from Exodus reminds us that God's people are chosen for a purpose. 

A missionary understands that truth better than most. They leave behind comfort because they know the Gospel was never meant to stay in one place. They go where they are sent. They trust where God leads. They give themselves to people they have never met because Christ first gave Himself to them. 

That is what ‘Father Ray’ did.

He came not as a visitor, but as a shepherd. 

The second reading tells us that "while we were still sinners Christ died for us." 

That is the foundation of every authentic priestly vocation. 

A good priest doesn’t stand above his people. He walks among them. He knows that he, too, has received mercy. He serves not because he is perfect, but because Christ has loved him first. 

The priests who impact our lives most deeply are often the ones who help us experience that same mercy. 

Through Masses celebrated, confessions heard, hospital visits made, prayers offered, and countless ordinary conversations, ‘Father Ray’ became one of those priests for many people. Certainly he has to me. 

Many will never be known except by the people whose lives were changed by them. 

Yet that is often how God works. 

Quietly. 
Faithfully. 
One soul at a time. 

Then we come to the Gospel 

Jesus sees the crowds and is moved with compassion. 

Compassion is not simply feeling sorry for someone. It is allowing another person's suffering, struggles, and needs to move your heart toward action. 

That is what shepherds do. 

And over these past years, our parish has been blessed with a shepherd who cared. 

A shepherd who preached the Gospel. 
A shepherd who celebrated the sacraments. 
A shepherd who showed up. 
A shepherd who left home to serve people half a world away because Christ called him to do so. 

When Jesus told His Apostles, "Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give," He was describing the very heart of priesthood. 
Priests spend their lives giving away what they themselves have received. 

Their time. 
Their energy. 
Their prayers. 
Their love. 
Their lives. 

‘Father Ray’ has done exactly that. 

The truth is that missionary priests often leave fingerprints on a parish that are only fully appreciated when they are gone. 

We suddenly realize how many prayers they offered, how many burdens they quietly carried, and how many souls they guided toward Christ. 
This Sunday, as we hear Jesus speak about the abundant harvest and the need for laborers, I will be thinking about one laborer in particular. 

A priest from India who answered God's call. 
A missionary who left home. 
A shepherd who served faithfully. 
A friend who has blessed my life and the lives of countless others. 

The Church now calls him elsewhere. 
That is the nature of missionary work. 
The laborer goes where he is sent. 

I will miss him, but I am grateful. 
Grateful that God sent him here. 

Grateful for the example he leaves behind. 
This Sunday, before ‘Father Ray’ begins the next chapter of his priesthood, I simply want to say what many of us are thinking: 
Thank you for answering God's call. 
Thank you for bringing Christ to us. 

Thank you for showing us what a missionary heart looks like. 

May the Lord who called you continue to guide you, bless you, and make your ministry fruitful wherever He sends you next, and may we never forget that sometimes the readings we hear at Mass are not merely words on a page. 
Sometimes those words are  standing right in front of us.