What a Show about a Mysterious Island has to do with ECHO

As you may have surmised from perusing the internet, Facebook, my G-Chat Status, or any other form of media these past couple of days, the LOST finale was this past Sunday. A lot has been said already and a lot will continue to be said. As for me, I thought it was beautiful in how inspirational and thought-provoking it was. Emotionally satisfying. Incredibly Theological and Catholic-Communal Redemption FTW!

At the end of the episode, the hero of the story, Jack Shephard, meets his father Christian Shephard (yes seriously that's his name) and they have this conversation:

Jack: Where are we, dad?

Christian: This is the place that you all made together so that you could find one another. The most important part of your life was the time that you spent with these people. That's why all of you are here. Nobody does it alone, Jack. You needed all of them and they needed you.

Echo 5-for the past two years, we have lived this conversation. The two years that we had in community and ministry has shaped us indelibly and will continue to influence us wherever we go. The time that we had spent with each other may indeed be the "most important part of [our] life". That sure would make Jerry and Colleen happy. Like the castaways on the island, we needed each other to survive through our constant and helpful emails (Here's to you Kathy Haninger!) or affirming letters (Meli Barber!) or deep conversations (Tom Jackson!). People had no idea what we were doing or there for. Like the concept of the show, being an ACL was hard to explain succinctly to people without losing them. There were moments to rejoice and moments to ruminate-and we discovered in those moments; nobody does it alone. Being an Echo Apprentice-let alone a Catholic-I see that I needed all of you and hopefully you needed me as well(Here's to Echo Minority Council!)

The conversation between Jack and his father continue:

Jack: For what?

Christian: To remember and let go.

Jack: Kate. She said we were leaving.

Christian: Not leaving, no. Moving on.

Jack: Where are we going?

Christian: Let's go find out.

And here we are in our final weeks of being in our parish. As I sit here, my parish staff is going through next year's calendar. It's weird not being there (I will be there for the luncheon however). We did it, Echo 5. Let us remember the good times we had and celebrate what we have gained these past two years from all those we were fortunate to encounter. For some of us, this week is relaxing as we have jobs lined up, simple things to pack, and pleasant farewells ahead. For some of us, this week is stressful as the search is a challenge, more things to finish planning before we leave, and uncomfortable conversations to be had. We know that we are in solidarity through all these experiences and we move on together. So let's go find out. It's going to be crazy. And by crazy, I mean...