Change is always happening and at times it can be a good thing at others it seems the change is just part of life that disturbs the peace we seem to be living in. Last spring I learned that my friend Hra. Silvia Frias MESST had been reassigned by her order from their house in San Jose to their community in Puebla Mexico.
I have known Hermana Silvia for the past 20 years as we began our ministry in the Diocese of San Jose, I as a pastoral year seminarian at St. Catherine of Alexandria and she as a new pastoral associate. During these years we have worked together for six years and have celebrated and prayed together more times than can be counted. You always know there will be change but when it is announced and the reality sets in of the change there are the normal fears, sadness and some doubt.

But in faith I also know something else is occurring beyond my eyes and own personal feelings. It is the Church growing and blessing. One of the great lessons I have learned, and have to relearn again, is the mystery of God’s grace and the movement of the Holy Spirit in the overall big Church and in the daily lives of we who are called to serve God.
First, there is the blessing of newness. Both for Hermana Silvia and the community of San Jose will experience this blessing. In her new community, like all of us who move in life, she will find new blessings in her ministry. The community she enters will find in her a daughter called to serve and be blessed by her ministry. Some of the, “that is the way it is done”, syndrome we can fall into will be unstuck and new moments of proclaiming the Gospel will be open. And these moves aren’t always physical or long distance, sometimes it is a child moving out, a parent dying, a friend getting married or even a change of classroom and teacher for a student can spark this blessing.

Second, there is the blessing of sameness. We are one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church and no matter where we go in the world we will find the same blessings we receive in the place we are now residing. We are called to serve our brothers and sisters in mercy and love through the same baptismal promises universally lived by those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The architecture may be different, the language may be changed but the Sacramental life of the Church remains the same. The foundation is secure and upon this in the changes we may stand in trust and hope.

As we celebrated her farewell Mass earlier this week so many memories and blessings Hra. Silvia has shared with the Diocese of San Jose, her parish communities, her friends came to mind that they may not be counted or all told…but here is one very simple reminder of her joy and service…when we worked together in Morgan Hill at St. Catherine of Alexandria I asked one afternoon, how her day was going…she began by telling me of the many families she had visited that week at their homes. She shared the sufferings, the illnesses, the troubles each family offered in prayer. She talked about the healings taking place, the preparation for dying that had begun and the ongoing heroic struggles. She talked about the faith of the people and the inspiration she gathered from them, the inspiration of hope and blessing she was now sharing with me. This was the ministry she carried out each week that was often hidden but was even more important than the visible ministry at the parish. In hearing and praying with her that day I am thankful for the newness and the sameness of change because in these blessings we truly discover Jesus Christ present and alive.
Adiós Hermana Silvia…buen viaje.
God Bless
Fr. mark