Reassignment

by David Lins  |  07/03/2022  |  (Being) Catholic Matters

I was in my mid-twenties. I was a youth minister at my second parish and I’d built the largest Catholic youth ministry program in California north of Los Angeles. And I was in Modesto, not a big city like San Francisco, San Jose, or Sacramento.

On a day like any other, I was summoned into a meeting with the pastor and the head of HR. I was informed that my services were no longer needed. (I confirmed later that the pastor’s friend—also a youth minister—was moving back to the smaller town.) I was shocked. I was hurt. I seriously considered walking away from ministry for good.

Then, something crazy happened. I went to one last Mass at that particular parish and I heard a line from this weekend’s Gospel. An amazing line.

“Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, ‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.’”

No. I didn’t walk out into Maze Boulevard and stop traffic while I kicked off my hiking boots. Instead, I realized that just because what I had to offer was no longer welcome at St. Stanislaus, it did NOT mean I no longer had something to offer.

I fear too many of us have come up against a particular rejection of our God-given skills and talents—and then fell into the trap of believing we no longer had those skills or talents. Or maybe, we were foolish for thinking we ever had them at all...

After Modesto, I went on to found or revitalize youth ministry programs in Newport Beach, Tempe, and Scottsdale. One parish was rejecting me. God wasn’t.

I don’t share this for my glory. In fact, I still feel a bit embarrassed that a parish let me go all these years later. I share this to remind us all to properly discern whether the Lord is calling us to use different gifts and talents, or just to use the same ones somewhere else.

Sometimes, the Lord needs to reassign us. And that isn’t embarrassing. It’s exciting.

Comments, concerns, questions? Email David at dlins@oloj.org

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