Reflections from My Installation as Pastor
August 16, 2025
Happy 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time! Reminder that this weekend, August 16 and 17 at 4:30pm and 10am Mass, we will have a backpack tag blessing at the end of Mass. Any school children will be invited forward to receive the blessing and backpack tag. I pray as they begin this school year, they grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church. Bishop Paprocki as you know was here on Aug. 2 for our Pastor Installation and he wanted me to pass along his homily. Below are a couple paragraphs. You can read the full homily at https://dio.org/bishop/homilies-and-speeches/
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ: It is good for us to be here today for this Mass and Rite of Installation of Father Mark Tracy as Pastor of Christ the King Parish here in Springfield. Although Father Tracy officially began his new assignment here as Pastor of Christ the King Parish earlier last month on July 1st, we celebrate this Rite of Installation liturgically today not only to ask God’s blessings on Father Tracy as he begins his ministry as shepherd of this flock, but also because it reminds all of us of an essential part of being a disciple: Disciples do not choose their own path, they follow Christ where He leads them.
The word apostle comes from the Greek word Apostolos, which means “one who is sent out as a messenger.” Bishops are successors of the apostles, and priests are collaborators with the bishops. As a successor of the apostles, I was sent here as Bishop of this Diocese in 2010 by then Pope Benedict XVI, himself having been given his authority as Pope after Christ gave it to St. Peter when He founded the Church: “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19). In a similar way, as a collaborator in the ministry of a successor of the apostles, a priest is sent and entrusted with the pastoral responsibilities of a parish by his bishop, and it is during the rite of installation that we celebrate here this evening that this handing over of the “keys of the kingdom” (albeit only a small part of Christ’s Kingdom) takes place.
At the same time, Jesus’ gift of responsibility and authority over His Church as entrusted to Peter, and my giving a part of that to your new pastor today, is not something that happens only to the Pope, or to priests. Every one of us has been entrusted with a small part of Jesus’ Kingdom. For some of you, that is upholding Christ’s reign in your family, as you work, or among the people you are friends with. For all of us, Christ has given us the responsibility, and dignity, of caring for and protecting His Kingdom in our own hearts.
One of the ways that we do this happens every Sunday when we profess our faith by praying the Creed. For Saint Peter Himself, it was only after his profession of faith in Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the Living God” that he was made leader of the Church. Today, in a special way, all of us, with your new pastor, will recite the Creed, professing individually and together our common faith in Christ. By that profession, I officially ask your pastor to take on the responsibilities of this parish with the heart of Christ. But every time we profess the Creed, every time we pray those words that billions of Christians have prayed down through the centuries, we each renew our own commitment to Jesus! Does He reign over our hearts? Is He the Lord of our time? Of our bank accounts? Of those He has entrusted to our care? If Jesus is truly “Christ the King” as the title of this parish proclaims, then He must be the only king of our lives, and that should be evident in the way we live.
Father Tracy will serve you now as pastor as we continue forward into this Third Millennium of Christianity, so I think it is fitting to call to mind a theme suggested by our late Holy Father, the Great Pope Saint John Paul II, in his Apostolic Letter, Novo Millennio Ineunte, “On Entering the New Millennium,” which I quote as follows (nos. 30-31): “First of all, I have no hesitation in saying that all pastoral initiatives must be set in relation to holiness.” I always mention that quote in my homily at the Installation Mass for every new Pastor that I have appointed. Even if you have heard it before, it is worth repeating because it is so basic and essential: All pastoral initiatives must be set in relation to holiness. If we forget that, it will not take long to stray off course from what we should be doing in parish ministry and why we are doing it. Holiness consists of following Jesus as His disciples, as people who listen and learn from Him, and who put Him first in our lives. In a real relationship with Christ, we discover that everything we have was first a gift from our Heavenly Father.
Happy 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time! I want to say thank you to everyone for your support at the Pastor Installation last weekend. It is a great joy and honor to serve here at CTK as Pastor. I am deeply thankful to everyone who assisted with the Mass and Reception. It was a celebration for our Parish, and my parents enjoyed their first visit to Christ the King. It is hard to believe that the school year is right around the corner. Next weekend August 16 and 17 at 4:30pm and 10am Mass, we will have a backpack tag blessing at the end of Mass. Any school children will be invited forward to receive the blessing and backpack tag. I pray as they begin this school year, they grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church. The ladies of the Altar & Rosary Society have graciously offered to host a donut Sunday after the 10am Mass over in the Parish Hall. I am excited to begin the school year here at CTK. The first day of school is August 18. I plan on doing some Q and A sessions with the school in September as a way of getting to know staff and students better. Dennis Trickey will also be teaching a bit in 2nd grade, assisting with the junior high Made for More faith program, and assistant coach for baseball. I am excited for him to be in the school. As Dennis settles in more, we will look for more opportunities for him to be involved in the Parish and School.
Happy 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time! As a Parish family, we welcome Bishop Paprocki this weekend for the 4:30pm Mass on August 2. It is an honor and joy to be installed as Pastor here at Christ the King. I am humbled to serve as Pastor of CTK and pray for strength and guidance from the Holy Spirit to serve our Parish Family well. I take the responsibility of Pastor very seriously and will strive to do my best. But do not worry, I do not take myself seriously, just my responsibilities! The role of the Pastor is to provide pastoral care for a parish in 3 major functions: sanctifying, preaching/teaching, and governing. The Pastor has the responsibility of overseeing these 3 important functions of the Parish. The sanctifying function is especially connected to the Sacraments. The Pastor is to ensure that parishioners have access to all of the Sacraments either celebrated by the Pastor or delegated to other ministers. The preaching/teaching function is connected to the word of God in Scripture and Tradition being passed down by the Pastor to faithful. This passing down of the faith is done directly by the Pastor in his own preaching, but the Pastor also oversees other clergy and lay ministers the in parish and school in preaching/teaching the Catholic faith. Finally, the Pastor also oversees the governing function of the Parish. The Pastor is responsible for the spiritual and temporal affairs of the Parish and must give an account for them to God. The Pastor works with the parish and school staff to be stewards of what God entrusted us with and to carry on the mission of Jesus by forming His disciples in His Church. Again, it is a honor and joy to serve as your Pastor at CTK. These 3 functions of a Pastor serve to assist each person to grow in holiness through a deeper relationship with Jesus and His Church. Please pray for me in this role and know of my prayers for each of you. Before school starts, I am going to take a mini-vacation again. I will be gone Aug. 4-7. If you need something, just reach out to the Parish Office.
Happy 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time! Hard to believe that July is wrapping up. Before long, school will be back in session. Some exciting news for our Parish is below. On August 2 at the 4:30pm Mass, Bishop Paprocki will celebrate Mass and install me as Pastor. There will be a reception afterwards in the Parish Center. This reception will serve also as a welcome reception. Everyone is welcome to attend. Before school starts, I am going to take a mini-vacation again. I will be gone Aug. 4-7. If you need something, just reach out to the Parish Office. Details on the reception and the rite of Pastor Installation: RITE OF PASTOR INSTALLATION AFTER THE GOSPEL IN MASS The Bishop commends Fr. Mark Tracy as CTK’s new Pastor WELCOME BY THE PEOPLE The Bishop invites the people to express their approval HOMILY The Bishop will explain the meaning of the celebration PRESENTATION OF THE PARISH CLERGY, STAFF AND PARISH TRUSTEES Staff is presented to the new Pastor by the Bishop Trustees come forward and the Bishop presents them to the new Pastor PROFESSION OF FAITH AND OATH The Pastor leads the Nicene Creed, then pledges his oath to the Bishop Christ the King Pastor Installation August 2 at 4:30 pm Mass Welcome Reception After Mass in the Parish Center All are Welcome to Attend
Happy 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time! I wanted to offer a quick word of thank you to all of the Vacation Bible School volunteers. Thanks for your sacrifice to make the week very enjoyable for the kids and help them grow in their relationship with God! As I mentioned last week, no word yet on Army Reserves unit assignment. Not sure when I’ll receive word, but I will keep you in the loop. When I receive a unit, I will be away at times. In National Guard, I was gone one weekend a month and 2 weeks in the summer. In Reserves, I am going to try to work out being gone once a quarter for 4-5 days and 2 weeks in summer. Some folks have also asked what my other priestly assignment in the Diocese is. Bishop Paprocki, when he assigned me to be Pastor of Christ the King, also assigned me to be Episcopal Vicar for Catholic Schools in the Springfield Deanery. The best way to explain this assignment is that I represent the Bishop and am delegated authority to act in his name in this new role. Basically, I oversee all the Catholic Schools in the Springfield Deanery for the Bishop. Those Catholic Schools would include the Springfield area, Decatur area, Jacksonville area, Taylorville, and Pana. Please pray for me as I begin this role and carry out the work of Bishop Paprocki in furthering Catholic Identity, financial stability, and evangelization of our Catholic Schools. This role and priestly assignment will take roughly 10-15 hours per week. I will be working in this role from Christ the King and will travel to schools or the diocesan pastoral center about once a week. In Christ’s Mercy, Fr. Mark Tracy
Thank you for the warm welcome to Christ the King. It is good to be here and settling in one step at a time, just takes time. Thanks for your patience as we continue the transition process of a new Pastor. Thank you as well for your warm welcome to Dennis. Dennis Trickey will be spending the whole year with us through June of 2026. For analogy’s sake, the pastoral year serves as an internship/apprenticeship for him. He gets to spend the year seeing how a school year works at a parish school plus seeing the life of a priest more fully during the year as opposed to summer life in a parish. Fr. Alex and I basically work with him on priestly skills like sacraments, preaching/teaching, and overseeing a parish and school. We are putting together a teaching schedule for the school and will be looking at some teaching opportunities in the Parish as well. He will assist with liturgy and sacraments like Mass, baptisms, funerals, marriages, etc. Basically, this pastoral year gives him a hands-on experience of what priestly life looks like as he approaches his final years of seminary and ordination. Dennis will be ordained a transitional Deacon in the spring of 2027 and Priest in the May of 2028. It is a great blessing to have him with us for this year. Finally, a couple of folks have asked about my other priestly assignments that the Bishop has assigned me, Episcopal Vicar of Catholic Schools for the Springfield Deanery and Military Chaplain for the Army Reserves. I will address both more fully in the coming weeks. For now, I concluded my time with the Army National Guard back in February. I served in the Guard for 6 years in 2 units. I served as a Battalion Chaplain in an Engineering Unit and a Chemical Unit. I greatly enjoyed both experiences. I have been accepted into the Army Reserves; just waiting to be assigned a unit. With Uncle Sam, who knows when that will be, but I will keep you informed. Fr. Mark Tracy
Hello CTK! It is a joy and honor to be your new Pastor. People usually ask what I prefer to be called and either way is fine by me. Growing up with 2 first names, I am used to being called both. Most folks call me Fr. Mark and that is perfectly fine with me. Below is a brief biography and background information. I originally grew up in Mount Sterling, IL, where I attended St. Mary's grade school and Brown County High School. I am one of four children of my parents, Jim and Jil Tracy. We attended Mass and religious formation as a family at Holy Family Parish in Mount Sterling. After high school, I attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a degree in Recreation, Sport, and Tourism Management (Bishop Paprocki usually gives me a hard time for that degree and connecting it to priesthood). After college, I worked for a bit in Indianapolis and after a few months I knew the Lord Jesus was inviting me to give seminary a chance and explore the possibility of Priesthood. I attended St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in Southern Indiana for six years and my first assignment as a priest was as parochial vicar at St. Anthony in Effingham and St. Mary of the Annunciation in Shumway. I also taught theology and was an assistant coach for basketball and baseball part-time during my time at St. Anthony. For the past 4 years, I have served as Pastor at Holy Family Parish in Decatur and greatly enjoyed my time there. I was also the Chaplain at St. Teresa High School for the past 3 years. In total, I have been a priest of Christ Jesus now for 7 years and it has been an immense joy to serve Christ and his people as a priest. In my spare time, I love golfing, hiking, playing sports, traveling, watching Cardinals baseball, reading, and hanging out with friends and family. I look forward to meeting you all! Please have patience with me as I learn names. More information will come out soon for a welcome reception. We plan to have a welcome reception after my Pastor Installation Mass some time in July or August with Bishop Paprocki. We will also be welcoming a seminarian, Dennis Trickey, for a Pastoral Year beginning in July through June 2026. In Christ’s Mercy, Fr. Mark Tracy
Today, we celebrate two great pillars of the Church: Ss. Peter and Paul. Though very different in personality and mission, both gave everything to Christ and bore witness to the Gospel with their lives. St. Peter, the fisherman, was chosen by Jesus to be the rock upon which the Church is built. Despite his denial, Peter’s deep love for the Lord led him to repentance, renewal, and, finally, martyrdom in Rome. St. Paul, the persecutor turned apostle, reminds us that no one is beyond the reach of God's grace. His tireless missionary journeys and bold preaching carried the Gospel to the Gentiles and laid the foundation of Christianity across the Roman world. Their lives show us that holiness is not about perfection, but about surrender. It's about letting Christ transform our weakness into strength, our fear into faith, our failure into mission. May we, like Peter and Paul, have the courage to follow Jesus boldly, to proclaim Him with our lives, and to remain faithful to the end. Ss. Peter and Paul, pray for us! A Fond Farewell The book “The Little Prince” is a children’s book that is actually a book for adults and it’s one that I consider a classic. There is a line in the book that says “it’s a mysterious place, the land of the tears.” The things that I thought would stir my emotions didn’t do so as much and then some other things surprisingly moved me a great deal. I cannot adequately express my gratitude for the sentiments, notes, and generosity that I have received as I take my leave from CTK. It is very hard to leave you but I go with a full heart. Several of you have asked for my contact information at Saint Meinrad so here it is: Fr. Christopher House 200 Hill Drive St. Meinrad, IN 47577 812-357-6611 I will be praying for all of you each day; please remember me and the seminary community in your prayers. One day, perhaps when you least expect it, I just may pop in to my old stomping grounds. Until then, may the Lord bless you and keep you! Wishing you and yours every good gift of heaven now and always, Father Chris House
This weekend we celebrate the feast formally titled the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ but popularly known as Corpus Christi. Every time the Church gathers to celebrate the Mass, the Eucharist, which is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord, is at the center of our worship. We must avoid the danger of growing lax in our reverence and awe due to our familiarity with this great and wonderful sacrament, which is one reason why the Church dedicates a particular day of solemnity to focus solely on this mystery. The Eucharist is the life source of the Church, the ultimate manifestation of Christ’s presence among us, and it has been the strength of the faithful for the Church’s entire history. It is not a sign or symbol, because a sign or symbol points to another reality; the Eucharist is the reality of Jesus’s real presence among us. In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus’s feeding of the five thousand is recounted for us which happened at a site a few miles from Capernaum called Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee. The transformation of those five loaves and two fish, meager as they were, reminds us that our simple gifts of bread and wine, when changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, become something new and wonderful in the Eucharist. In the Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha, there is a famous mosaic on the floor of two fish but only four loaves. The absence of the fifth loaf in the mosaic invites us to raise our eyes to the Blessed Sacrament present either on the altar or the tabernacle and to see that it is Jesus who is the true bread who continually comes down from heaven in the Eucharist. Thank you! Thank you to all who took the time to wish me well this past Tuesday evening at my parish send off. Thank you also to those who could not make it but who have expressed their sentiments to me in person or through messages. My thanks especially to the Altar and Rosary Society and to the Men’s Club for helping to make the gathering happen. You will not find my final thoughts here but in next Sunday’s bulletin before Father Mark takes the helm on July 1. I do ask for your continued prayers, especially this coming week as I take my formal leave. Each passing day has been harder as the clock runs down. I am going to a great place but leaving is still quite hard when you’ve been at a great place. More to come… Blessings to you and yours for the week ahead! Father Chris House
This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. From a purely intellectual standpoint, we cannot unlock the mystery of the one God united in three persons. However, we can come to better understand the divine mystery when we see it as a mystery of a relationship of total love. When we seek to live in relationships of selfless and unconditional love then we begin to experience the life of the Trinity and are even drawn into it. Coming off of Pentecost Sunday, we find ourselves out of the Easter Season and back in Ordinary Time. This season will stretch all the way to the First Sunday of Advent, but let’s not fall into the trap of misunderstanding the word “ordinary.” The season is named for the fact that the Sundays are marked by ordinal numbers. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops states: Christmas Time and Easter Time highlight the central mysteries of the Paschal Mystery, namely, the incarnation, death on the cross, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Sundays and weeks of Ordinary Time, on the other hand, take us through the life of Christ. This is the time of conversion. This is living the life of Christ. Ordinary Time is a time for growth and maturation, a time in which the mystery of Christ is called to penetrate ever more deeply into history until all things are finally caught up in Christ. The goal, toward which all of history is directed, is represented by the final Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. This Sunday’s Gospel takes us back to the Upper Room. Jesus, on the eve of His Passion, speaks not just with urgency but with a deep awareness of the disciples’ limits. Jesus knows their hearts, their fears, and their readiness. He is patient and He promises the Holy Spirit who will guide them gradually into all truth. This passage speaks volumes about the nature of divine revelation: it is not dumped on us all at once. It is unfolded patiently, progressively, and personally. In the person of the Holy Spirit, God continues to teach the Church. What the disciples could not understand before the Cross and Resurrection, they would begin to grasp in the light of Pentecost. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth. In a world where truth often feels relative, manipulated, or hidden, we are reminded that truth is not an idea, it is a person, Jesus Himself. And it is the Holy Spirit who leads us deeper into the truth of Christ: into who He is, what He taught, and how we are to live in Him. The Spirit doesn’t invent new truth but “will take what is mine and declare it to you.” The Holy Spirit helps us understand, guard, and proclaim the unchanging truth of Christ in every age. Jesus speaks of the perfect harmony between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit: “All that the Father has is mine,” and the Spirit “will take from what is mine.” This Gospel passage is one of the most Trinitarian in all of Scripture. It reveals not just three divine Persons, but a communion of love—mutual giving, shared truth, and total unity. This is the model for the Church and for Christian life. We are called to reflect that same communion in our families, our parish, and our relationships. Where there is competition, division, or pride, the Spirit of truth is stifled. But where there is humility, listening, and love, the Spirit breathes new life. May our lives reflect the unity and love of the Most Holy Trinity, in whom we live, and move, and have our being. Preparing to Take My Leave As you likely have seen, my farewell reception has been scheduled for Tuesday evening, June 17, from 5:00PM to 8:00PM in the parish center. Come by, have something to eat, and enjoy some fellowship with your fellow CTK parishioners and friends. I will offer some farewell remarks at the end of all the Masses the weekend of the 21st/22nd, and I will leave CTK on the 24th. Father Mark plans to arrive after the following Sunday, and the parish will be in the capable hands of Father Alex in the meantime. I ask for your continued prayers for myself and Father Mark in these days of transition. Blessings to you and yours for the week ahead! Father Chris House
Following the Lord’s Ascension into heaven, the Apostles were gathered once again in the Upper Room where the Lord had instituted both the Eucharist and the Priesthood at the Last Supper. It was also the place where He first appeared to them following the Resurrection. Tradition tells us that the Apostles were not alone on this particular day and that Mary, the Mother of the Lord, was with them. Jerusalem was filled with Jews who had come to the holy city for the feast of Pentecost, a feast celebrating the wheat harvest that was celebrated seven weeks and one day (50 days) following Passover. That day was a day that would forever change the face of the earth. Before His Ascension, the Lord promised the Apostles that He would send a paraclete, an advocate to be with them always until He returned in glory. It was precisely this advocate for whom the Apostles waited in the Upper Room, when on that Pentecost day, the Lord Jesus fulfilled His promise and the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles and Mary, appearing as tongues of fire. It was precisely in this moment that the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, was preparing to break forth into the greater world. From the Upper Room, the Apostles went forth as new men, as new creations. The grace of the Holy Spirit had forever changed them, transforming their fear and trepidation into courage and zeal. With this gift of the Holy Spirit, they went out and fulfilled the Lord’s command to preach the forgiveness of sins, beginning first in Jerusalem. Acts of the Apostles recounts that some 3,000 people that very day heard the preaching of the Apostles, believed, were baptized, and thus the Church was born. This testimony from the Scriptures is why Pentecost is called the birthday of the Church. As we reflect on the significance of Pentecost, we are called to open our hearts to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit renews the face of the earth and renews us as individuals and as a community of faith. The Spirit brings unity in diversity, as seen in the apostles speaking in different languages yet proclaiming the same message of salvation. Pentecost challenges us to be open to the Spirit's guidance in our lives. It invites us to step out of our comfort zones, to overcome our fears, and to be bold witnesses to the love and truth of Christ. The Spirit equips us with gifts and charisms for the building up of the Church and the spread of the Kingdom of God. Today, we, the living stones of the Church, claimed by Christ in baptism and anointed with the Holy Spirit through Confirmation, are called to carry on this mission given to the Apostles some 2,000 years ago. We who profess the name of Christ are His disciples because we have come to believe in Him, but our discipleship must be transformed into apostleship as the word apostle means “one who is sent.” The Apostles were the first to be sent and we are called to continue their work. On this Pentecost Sunday and always, let us open our hearts to the gift of the Holy Spirit who continues to guide the Church. Let us cooperate with the grace of the Spirit that seeks to make us witnesses of the crucified and risen Lord so that others may come to know and believe in the Lord Jesus and accept His gift of salvation. My Farewell Reception My farewell reception has been scheduled for Tuesday evening, June 17, from 5:00PM to 8:00PM in the parish center. Come by, have something to eat, and enjoy some fellowship with your fellow CTK parishioners and friends. My last day at CTK will either be June 24 th or June 25 th . Blessings to you and yours for the week ahead! Father Chris House
