St. Monica Catholic Church
1001 Camino Pablo Moraga, CA 94556 Phone
925-376-6900
Cath McGhee's Retirement Party
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A beautiful and moving tribute to retiring Pastoral Adminstrator, Cath McGhee was celebrated on May 21, 2004 with a special mass attended by hundreds, including many leaders and clergy of the Oakland Diocese. The party following was filled with love, tears, fun, and friendship. |
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Cath shares her farewell homily below.
I'd like to invite you to join me on a journey tonight and indulge me one last time. Jump on my magic carpet and we will travel to far off lands and to times gone by. Our first stop will be a train station in Glasgow, Scotland. As you alight from the carpet you'll find yourself in St. Enoch's station and I am standing in the station with my new husband and my father, the year is 1960, the month is June almost 44 years to the day.
As I look at my Dad I am remembering the things he has taught me. How to ride a bike, grip a golf club, how to be kind to my sister and brother, how to find mushrooms in the long grasses of the Yorkshire countryside. I look into a face filled with love for me and I dread saying goodbye to him. I am beginning a new life without him, a life with new responsibilities, perhaps eventually children of my own to nurture and take care of. My father prepared me well but I am a little afraid of life without him by my side. I wonder if I have the tools for my new life.
You've probably guessed what's happening at this train station you see I am standing on the platform waiting to board and start a new life in a new country with a new husband at my side. My father hugs me and shaking my husband's hand he says "look after her, be kind to her, enjoy your life together and go with God". He turns to me one last time and with tears in his eyes he says, "we'll miss you, write often and come home to visit whenever you can". I board the overnight train to London and cry for hours.
It's time to get back on the magic carpet again. This journey takes us back to the time of Jesus. We alight from the magic carpet just as Jesus is about to leave his friends and family and they are dreading the good-byes, they were afraid of life without him and though he had been preparing them well they wondered if they had the tools for life without him.
Using our imaginations let's think back for a minute and remember his triumphant ride into Jerusalem with palm branches all around him, first to be cheered by the crowds, then to be humiliated. Now picture yourself at the table with him and his friends during his last meal. Imagine your surprise when he takes a towel and ties it around his waist and bends down to wash your feet, is this what he expects me to do you might ask yourself. Now travel with him to Calvary and experience his suffering and pain, how can he tolerate this you ask again, will I suffer at times in my life, is he preparing me for that. From the despair of that horrific experience and the terrible loss, and after a few days we join the women friends of Jesus to visit his tomb only to find it empty. What a surprise!
Now here we are in Bethany near Jerusalem and in the days leading up to today, we've seen him in that little upstairs room and on the hot dusty road to Emmaus and on each of those occasions he has been instructing us in his ways, showing us how to care for one another, preparing us for a new life without him. A life that comes with new responsibilities, the responsibility of being one of his followers. We watch as he raises his hands and blesses us. We see him leave and we have tears in our eyes. We'll miss him and wonder if we have the tools for life without him, yet we know that each time we come "home to visit" and together we share a simple meal of bread and wine in the Eucharist, we will be united with him.
Finally the magic carpet brings us home to Moraga, excited at our visit to Bethany with the Lord, perhaps a little apprehensive of our future but confident that we have been well prepared for continuing his work and we look forward to the future. At home in Moraga with a new leader to support guide, and cheerlead us on, we will thrive because we have once again been renewed by the risen Christ and his spirit. I can imagine as he looks down on us he speaks to his Father in heaven. Listen to what he says about the people of this parish ; " See how they care for one another, see how they serve the least of our people, see how they share their love for us with others" and then Jesus says to his Father, "What would we do without them".
And as my journey with you comes to an end I must admit I don't know what I will do without you but I would like to leave you with my Dad's advice of 44 years ago at St. Enoch's train station. "Look after one another, be kind to one another, enjoy each day of your lives and go with God"
It has been a great privilege to serve you, God bless and keep you all. Amen
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