I was recently talking with a parishioner from my first assignment, St Joseph’s down in Vancouver WA. They were recounting a favorite memory, it’s funny I never figured two years in a place would merit “the good old days”, for me.  Apparently, they had seen me pushing a stalled car out of an intersection. Once they started to describe the scene, I remembered the occasion. It was right after I got ordained so maybe July or August of 2010 and I was on my way to do an anointing. The hospital was about six blocks away and just as I was about to turn, I encountered a stalled vehicle. I was able to get around it and pulled into a bus pullout and through my car into park. I didn’t think much of it at the time I was just doing what anyone would do if there was a car blocking traffic. I simply got behind the car and gave it a little push so that the driver could get through the intersection; it was even a little downhill so no problem. The whole incident took maybe 28 seconds, then back into my car and on to the hospital.

               A few days later the parishioner came up to me after Mass and said “good job Superman” I had no idea what they were talking about but figured since I had told everyone that I wanted to be a superhero when I was a kid that was what they were referring to. I stared back a little blankly still a bit confused they recounted what they saw, and we all laughed. They said that it would have been the best vocation video ever because it showed the priest in action. 

               I recount this story not because I think it was all that heroic, any guy worth a nickel would have done the same thing, it’s only common courtesy. No, I recount it because after all the homilies, funerals and catechism classes I taught, after all the baptisms and weddings and typical “priestly” things I did over a two-year period, this is what they remembered. It didn’t take place at the church and had nothing to do with my “formal” priestly training. It was a situation that any of us could have been involved in and it was here that they heard the Gospel proclaimed. We use St Francis’ line often “preach the Gospel always, use words when necessary” but rarely do we stop to think about what it really means. If all it takes to preach the Gospel loud and clear is the common decency to push a stalled car out of the intersection, then we should all be evangelists. Let’s go preach the Gospel!