A Starry Reminder That Some Things Never Change

Orion is back.

I look forward to that constellation’s return to dark skies every year about this time for a variety of reasons. I enjoy the outdoors … fishing, hunting, camping, among other things; seeing “the hunter” for the first time means new seasons are on the way … change is in the air. 

I noticed Orion for the first time less than two weeks ago. He rises in the east just before the first rays of a new dawn begin glowing up from the horizon. By the time you read this, he will be higher in the morning sky by first light … ever so slightly. He will remain visible well into next year before disappearing again for several months as he crosses the sky here in “sunlight camo.”

Orion prompts me to look back – annually – over the preceding 12 months. I think about what was going on when I saw him for the first time last August, and about what has happened since. For years, I have reached the same conclusion about the collective developments … the more things change, the more they stay the same.

On page 5 of this issue, Carol Nurrenbern reflects on the first weeks of life for the new St. Boniface Parish on Evansville’s west side. Her column actually inspired this one because as I read it, that familiar saying popped into my head.

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Take a few minutes to read Carol’s piece; you’ll see what I mean. At its most basic level, the feature is a study in dynamics we followers of Jesus have been experiencing for millennia.

We grow, we change; the world around us changes; we adapt … and we grow some more. God’s love and mercy, however, remains constant. In that respect, things really do stay the same, no matter how much change we might perceive.

Carol paints a picture that others across our 12 counties also have been a part of since July 1, when the first phase of the Diocesan Strategic Plan took effect.

Make no mistake – we are one holy, catholic and apostolic Church. That’s right – catholic with a little c. In other words, “We are one holy, universal and apostolic Church.”

Carol, her fellow St. Boniface parishioners and many others in our diocese are living that line from the Nicene Creed. And from here, it seems apparent that another truth is becoming evident to them – and many more of us – as this process unfolds:

“Jesus Christ is the same … yesterday, today and tomorrow.”

He reminds me of that every year at this time through the return of my stellar friend Orion the hunter.