My Work Wife

Showing love, respect and admiration to our secretaries

05/04/2017

John 6:44-51 

Jesus said to the crowds: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.

           As usual, I missed Secretary’s Day again this year. I guess I need a secretary to remind me about this day, but that would sort of defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it? And this year they’ve expanded it to a whole week, to make sure knuckle-heads like me would not miss it. But I did. So, I’d like to give my secretaries a shout-out in this sermon.

          In 21 years as a priest, the bishop has assigned me to 17 different jobs (parishes, mission churches and diocesan offices), each of which was staffed with professional and personable secretaries. In every position I held, without exception, each secretary has taught me lessons in how to be a holy and humble priest. I truly believe that parish secretaries should help develop the curriculum in seminaries. They could each write a best-selling book about their experiences, but I hope they don’t.

          

           They’ve taught me more practical wisdom than I’ve learned from mountains of theology books. One taught me the value of letting my secretary know where I was when I wasn’t in the office. I thought that was “cramping my style,” but it actually helped the secretary to field phone calls that made my style even less cramped. Another secretary insisted I take a vacation (I’m a workaholic), and I was so grateful that I did afterwards. She taught me to “work smarter, not harder.” All secretaries have taught me that parishioners are like the bones of a human body. They tell me which parishioners are the “jaw bones” (only love to complain), and the “butt bones” (only sit around and don’t work), and the “back bones” (who hold the parish together). They’ve smoothed ruffled feathers when I didn’t treat someone with Christ-like compassion. They made excuses for me when I missed a meeting or showed up late. They were a gentle shoulder when I need to vent, a sounding board for my hair-brained ideas, and they kept fishing me out of hot water with the bishop.

           Every day they work tirelessly (and thanklessly) to make me look like a rockstar priest and pastor, even though often I fail at both. If they’ve been a secretary for more than a few years, they’ve worked with more than one pastor. They know each one has his strengths and weaknesses and they always highlight the first and try to forget about the second. They know we are not the “knight in shining armor” but they try to make us look like one anyway. That’s how they serve Jesus.

          In the gospel today, Jesus quotes the Old Testament prophets, saying, “They shall all be taught by God.” Notice that Jesus said “all” would be taught, and that includes priests, too. When I was first ordained, I thought it was my job to teach other people. After all, aren’t the people supposed to just “pray, pay and obey”?? But my secretaries have taught me far more about being a disciple of Christ than I could ever hope to teach them. One day, I mentioned to Bishop Peter Sartain (now archbishop of Seattle), that the Holy Spirit works through him. He looked me straight in the eyes and said, “John, the Holy Spirit works through all of us.” “They shall all be taught by God,” Jesus said. I wonder if some wise, loving parish secretary taught the good archbishop that lesson along the way.

           My friends, I’m not sure if you’ve been as fortunate as me and had 17 secretaries in 21 years. But every good secretary tries to make his or her boss look like the “knight in shining armor,” even when they know he is not. It is with great admiration, respect and gratitude that our secretaries are sometimes called “work wives.” They deserve a day of appreciation, if not a week.

Praised be Jesus Christ!