Ah, the smell of spring is riding the winds we feel these past weeks and with the spring comes the season for change, new beginnings and new ends.

There are first Communions, confirmations, graduations and ordinations.

Here in diocesan administration it is time for the annual round of priestly appointments. I am sure you read the long list of new pastoral appointments along with some retirement announcements in our May 12 issue.  Per our Observer practice, the week after the appointments are released by the Office of Vicar for Clergy and Office of the Bishop and printed in The Observer, the biographies of those retiring and those becoming pastors are published so readers can learn more about the servants to whom they will give welcome or bid farewell. You will see all those on pages 3-6.

Invariably, these changes also mean the beginning of the brief season of emails and letters sent to various diocesan administrative offices expressing everything from sorrow to outrage about the movement of priests from one parish to another. That of course, is part of the nature of change.

Sometimes it is welcome and sometimes change is uncomfortable and unwanted.

And the way we view change or understand it, is nothing new. Scripture will back me up on this. In the somewhat melancholy tone of Ecclesiastes, the wisdom of change is explained. And some may even remember the 1965 song, “Turn, Turn, Turn,” by the Byrds based on this particular Scripture:

“There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to give birth, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down , and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate, a time of war, and a time of peace.”  (Ecc3:1-8)

It is said the opposites in this Scripture affirm that God has an appointed time for everything. It also means God knows what He’s doing. That’s how we can put trust into change and see the change in our time with our pastors, parochial vicars, administrators, deacons, etc., is a healthy and necessary use of talent and resources and part of the cycle of the life of the Church. Just like the cycle of daily life in all aspects of our world.

For instance, when we plant in these next few weeks of spring, we know that with patient nurturing and the right amounts of sun and rain and weeding, we will be the benefactors of the fruit of the vine, bush, plant or tree. But we also know that same plant, as it is designed, will go dormant or wither and die, and to maintain health provided by the fruit of the vine, the cycle must be repeated.

This is the same in the life of a priest and the Church.

Our priests are all called to serve God by serving His people — to plant and nurture us in the Catholic faith and practice. Some are especially gifted at tending the plants while others are better at planting. And yet the call of the priest is to leave us — his plants — “… to the one who is to come after me,” (Ecc:2:18) no matter how difficult or necessary.

My parish will go through one of these changes for the first time in 25 years. When Msgr. Robert Sweeney announced at the Masses that he would finally be retiring from active ministry at St. Mary, the gasps from the pews were audible. And there is no vanity in saying that the gasps were quickly followed by bowed heads, sniffles and people frantically looking for tissues to wipe back tears.

It was hard news to receive even though each and every parishioner knows that Msgr. Sweeney has planted and nurtured us with kindness and attentiveness and most importantly, with love for over two decades. At 78 years of age, Msgr. Sweeney’s time to step aside has come and is well deserved.

While our first instinct was indeed to mourn, we must remember to celebrate and give thanks for the gift of our loving and faithful pastor and be prepared to welcome our new servant with a whole heart and embrace the comfort of knowing that God indeed has a plan for us and that life’s changes are part of His purpose for all things under heaven.