DAY 24: A JOYFUL MEDLEY

DAY 24: A JOYFUL MEDLEY

Father Billy Medley returned home to celebrate Mass this morning at St. Francis of Assisi Church with family and life-long friends before embarking on his new assignment as Bishop of the Owensboro Diocese.

The Gospel just so happened to be reflective of his appointment and today’s occasion. It was from Luke – about Jesus returning to his home town after word of his ministry had spread through the whole countryside. On that Sabbath, Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah:

                “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor...

…The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing’.”

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Lucky for today the Gospel reading ended there, because that’s where the similarities end; next we would be reading of how Jesus was not accepted in his hometown. Father Bill Medley is loved and embraced by his hometown. The community is simply ecstatic.

Father Medley is considered by many to be the best homilist in our Archdiocese, and today he did not disappoint.  

The church was absolutely full, so to find a seat I tip-toed upstairs to the choir loft. It was really the best place for me to be. As Father Billy delivered his spirited remarks about the extraordinary history of St. Francis Church and the people in this special place we call “The Holyland of Kentucky”, I was very moved not only by his words and the momentous occasion, but also by the sea of people gathered there – especially Dorothy Medley, his dear mother - and members of his immediate and extended family.  I felt so proud for our community, but especially so for his mother.

My “good deed” for the morning was meeting up with my old friend Jimmy Yates at communion and making him “switch lines” with me so we could receive communion from Father Medley (his first cousin).  He laughed, but I KNOW he’s glad I made him to that!