The Christmas classic, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ mirrors the ‘wonderful mission’ of the Fire Foundation of Northern Kentucky at Mass of Belonging
Bella Bailey
Multimedia Correspondent
Bishop John Iffert celebrated the second annual Mass of Belonging at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington, on September 9. Joining Bishop Iffert in the celebration of the Mass were Father Mark Keene, vicar general and pastor of St. Agnes Parish, Ft. Wright; Father Ryan Maher, rector of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption; Father Michael Brady, pastor of St. Therese Parish, Southgate; and Father Trinity Knight, pastor of Holy Cross Parish, Latonia.
The Mass of Belonging is hosted annually by the Fire Foundation of Northern Kentucky, whose mission is to enable students with disabilities to receive a traditional Catholic education. To do this, they provide funding through grants and additional education resources to the Catholic schools in the Diocese of Covington.
Bishop Iffert, in his homily, praised the work of the Fire Foundation, saying, “We all know the right thing to do in terms of providing Catholic education and formation for all of our children. Sometimes we struggle to see how we might accomplish that, how we might afford it, how we might be able to do it. The Fire Foundation doesn’t just condemn us for our hesitance, but instead says, ‘Let me help you find a way to do what is right.’”
A few weeks ago, Bishop Iffert said he listened to a podcast in which Ken Burns, the famous filmmaker, was interviewed. In this podcast, Bishop Iffert said Mr. Burns compared the way one should live their life to the Christmas movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
In this movie, there are two competing towns, Bedford Falls and Pottersville. “Bedford Falls was the place where neighbors did neighborly things for one another… It was a place where the Holy Spirit’s wealth was made present by the way neighbors loved and cared for one another,” said Bishop Iffert. Pottersville, he said, is the antithesis of these values, where greed and corruption run unencumbered.
“Burns said from an early age, as soon as he saw that movie, he knew he faced a choice. Did he want to contribute to the world that would nurture Bedford Falls and its caring community, or did he want to choose Pottersville, with the antithesis of all those values,” said Bishop Iffert, “It’s not a bad way to think about life. It’s very similar to the vision that both Isaiah and Our Lord Jesus Christ set before us tonight in the Scripture.”
Living your life in a way that promotes the values of Bedford Falls is the same way that Jesus, in the Gospel reading of Matthew 25:31-40, says one might be worthy to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. “…For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited.”
Those that are to be precluded from the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus said, were those that saw their brothers and sisters — hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, ill and imprisoned — and did nothing.
Bishop Iffert said, “Jesus seems to be saying to us that the choices we make in the world, the choices we make in how we love and care for one another. They unleash the power of the Kingdom of God in our midst and transform our community after the likeness that God intends for us.”
The Fire Foundation of Northern Kentucky contributes to the Diocese of Covington the values of Bedford Falls and the Kingdom of Heaven. They aid in the mission of inclusive Catholic Education. Meeting parents where they are, they say, “Let me help you discover the way forward, let me help you know how you can help care for all of our own and not turn our backs on any that God has entrusted to our care,” said Bishop Iffert.
“It’s a beautiful mission,” he continued, “it’s a wonderful thing and so I’m grateful for this foundation, for all the work they do, for helping us to recognize how we might choose differently and helping to make it real.”
