25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
200th Anniversary; St. Peter the Apostle, Libertytown
September 24, 2023
A Graced Opportunity
I’m happy to join you in celebrating the bicentennial of your parish. What an opportunity to grow in our appreciation of the heritage of this parish! Even more wonderfully, this anniversary is graced opportunity to be renewed and deepened in the true missionary spirit that is already yours, the same missionary spirit that prompted our forebears in the faith to lay the groundwork for this parish so long ago.
I won’t to offer a detailed lesson in your history which you already know so well. Instead, I’ll weave highpoints of your history into a reflection on the Gospel which speaks of our calling to labor in the Lord’s vineyard. Let’s see how this Gospel sheds light on the labors of those who have gone before us and on the work we have been called to do in our day.
The Vineyard That Is St. Peter the Apostle Parish
In that Gospel, the owner of the vineyard goes into the marketplace to find laborers to cultivate his land and tend his vines in order to produce a rich harvest of grapes. Let us think of the vineyard as St. Peter Parish, and let us see the marketplace as the secular world in which we live. Let us further recognize the Owner of the vineyard as the Lord himself, “for we are his people, the sheep of his flock.”
The Owner of the vineyard went into the marketplace throughout the day where he found many who were idle, waiting to be hired. When we think of the enterprising people who founded this parish and then reflect on the busyness of our own lives – it’s hard for us to think of ourselves as idle day laborers waiting to be hired. Yet, unless we are doing the Lord’s work, we may be busy in the world’s eyes but idle in God’s. After all, it is the Lord’s work, not ours, that we are called to do. Whatever our vocation or our occupation, we’re called to till the soil in our part of the Lord’s vineyard, here at St. Peter the Apostle. So, when the Prophet Isaiah says to us, “[s]eek the Lord while he may be found, call on him while he is near”— let us call upon the Lord in his nearness, asking him how he wishes us to tend the vineyard that is St. Peter Parish, how he wishes us to build on the work of those who came before us.
Hours and Epochs in the Life of the Parish
We read that the Owner of the vineyard went forth looking to hire workers at dawn, at nine o’clock, at noon, at three o’clock in the afternoon, and at five o’clock. The hours of the day might be compared to the stages of your parish history. We can think of the 18th century Jesuit missionaries as those hired at dawn, they who preached the Gospel and established the Church in Frederick County. Those hired at dawn also include Mr. Richard Coales and Katherine McSherry who opened their home to those Jesuit missionaries for the celebration of Mass and donated the land on which the first church was built. Here we also remember Fr. Maleve and Fr. John McElroy who oversaw the construction of what Archbishop Marechal called “a fine stone chapel”, your first place of worship. Along with many others, they worked hard to ensure that the Church was firmly planted in this part of Frederick County.
The laborers hired at nine in the morning are those who built the second church whose cornerstone was laid in 1868 and whose construction was completed the following year, in 1869. If I am not mistaken, the Pastor at the time was Father McGuire who undertook to build a new and larger church because the vine was fruitful, because the number of Catholics had grown. Thanks to the labors of this generation of Catholics, the faith put down deeper roots and grew more and more vibrant, as evinced by the celebration of the second church’s 50th anniversary in 1921, under the pastorship of Father Samual Kavanaugh.
And generation hired at noon, so to speak, are the many priests and lay faithful labored here throughout the 20th century, not only to maintain this parish but to ensure that it would remain a vibrant community of faith, worship, and service.
Hired at three in the afternoon are the permanent deacons who serve here at St. Peter’s with such generosity, as well as Fr. Colin Poston, who served at St. Peter’s as a transitional deacon. Among those “hired at three” is Fr. Gene Nickols, who built Sullivan Hall and renovated Sappington Hall. And who can forget the devastating fire that nearly destroyed the beloved second church built in 1869? Many of you present at this anniversary liturgy remember it vividly. Led by Msgr. John Dietzenbach, you banded together as co-workers in the vineyard, and from the ashes of the old church came forth in 2008 this new church, a testament to the vitality and resiliency of your faith and your love of your parish. As Msgr. Dietzenbach said on that occasion, “Four years ago we gathered here with tears of sorrow Today, we gather with tears of joy!”
Hired somewhere between three and five was your previous pastor, Fr. Jason Worley, who was pastor when I arrived in 2012 and who served this parish faithfully and well. Under his leadership, many renovations were done, but even more importantly, he contributed to the strength and unity of this parish family. And that has continued, unabated, under your present Pastor, Fr. Chuck Wible, for whose gentle and compassionate leadership we are deeply, deeply grateful – let us thank all the priests who have served this parish with such fidelity and love!
As for those others hired at 5 o’clock – well, that’s all of us – the current generation that constitutes the parish of Peter. Like the laborers in the Gospel who were hired late in the day, we have benefitted from the work of those “who bore the day’s burden and the heat.” May God’s grace enable us to work joyfully and generously in this hour given us to continue building up this vineyard by planting the seeds of faith and producing a harvest of holiness: vocations to the priesthood, strong and loving families, active young parishioners, vigorous missionary outreach to Catholics who no longer practice their faith and to those who are searching for truth, meaning, and love in their lives, coupled with generous service to the poor and the vulnerable. For tomorrow a new day will dawn and others will come after us to continue the work that we have been given to do in our span of days.
The Daily Wage
And one final thought. What about the daily wage the Owner promised to pay us? In the Gospel, the usual daily wage is a denarius – a diminutive sum we might think – but in fact, the coin worth searching for, the treasure beyond all price! For in his generosity, the Owner of the Vineyard has given us neither silver nor gold but his very life, poured out upon the Cross and offered to the Father and to ourselves every time Mass is celebrated. Jesus himself and the Father’s love for us, poured in our hearts by the Spirit – this is the unmerited recompense we receive for our labors, be they great or small, be they long or short. For as we labor in the vineyard, the Lord’s love gently overtakes us and prepares us for that day when our labors shall cease and we shall join with those who have gone before us in faith in beholding face to face the glory of the Triune God. To Him be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen!