 RANDOM THOUGHTS
Early Sunday morning, before the rest of the neighborhood was awake, I sat in my rocker on my side porch sipping my “MD” alone with my thoughts. These moments seem more rare these days and the mind took advantage of the situation releasing all sorts of thoughts, ideas and reflections.
Rapidly and vividly the brain shared with me a summer full of experiences. The thought I hung onto most profoundly was: “Where did the time go and why did it go so quickly?” So I share with you here a few of those thoughts today.
Discourse on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
I thought about the summer Sunday Homily series on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. I remember, on Pentecost, I thought it would be great to use seven weeks of Sunday readings to talk about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It worked for the Beatitudes and last summer with the Eucharist. I had no idea what the readings were ahead of time and how it would play out… But I just trusted that the HS would guide me and he did!! Sharing the challenge of a spiritual time line aided by works of the Holy Spirit was my first stab at challenging a parish to see their life lived through spiritual glasses… I am sure that when we begin to trust God’s hand in our peaks and valleys we see a deeper purpose. I prayed as I reflected that we all will trust more in these gifts as our daily bread!!
WHAT A GREAT PARISH PICNIC
I thought about all the hard work that was done to prepare the parish picnic dinner that we shared the night before. So many of the la-dies came every morning throughout the week to prepare the food. The Guys worked hard as well setting up and tearing down before and after the picnic. The thing is that no one ever seems to mind the work… they love to serve, share and build community… Well the social committee and their cohort (Christian Mothers to name but one) are surely the back bone of the revival of the corner! Whether it is a bur-ger bash; Funeral luncheon; or a parish celebration call one and they all are ready to work! Thanks to them we enjoyed a great evening! I also thought how nice it was to engage others in conversation with food and drinks being served and music playing in the back-ground. It was truly festive! I also thought that the reason I still felt full was that I could not choose just one of the three types of Sandwiches… so I had one of each!! The jury is still out on which was best! I felt bad that I could not talk to everyone but I thanked God for giving me so many great parishioners! The corner is the best!!
GOD BLESS OUR TEACHERS
I thought about how the kids would be back to school and the teachers would have a new stable of minds to enkindle. I prayed for the teachers of Queen of Angels and all of my parishioners that teach in the public school system as well. I am proud to know that both our Catholic school and our Public school have corner dwellers displaying their love of Christ and His Church to the tender minds of our chil-dren…. There may be separation of church and state.. There may be no prayer in the public school but you can not separate the Faith of the teacher from her/his loving actions. I thought how happy the parents are that summer is over and how much the children dreaded the thought of going back. The shift of power in some way has returned to the discipline of early to bed early to rise routines that benefit the parents sanity and well being. I guess, all in all, it is a necessary evil, school that is…. WE all have to live through it one way or another.
WORDS OF WISDOM FOR THE COLLEGE BOUND
I thought how it just seemed like yesterday that I celebrated the Graduation Mass for our High School Seniors and now
their parents, were sending their children packing to be in the care of strangers and relatively on their own at some university school. What do they say or write to them to help them understand their commitment to Christ and his Church? I thought of the words of St. Louis who wrote this to his very own son:
My dearest son, my first instruction is that you should love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your strength. Without this there is no salvation. Keep yourself, my son, from everything that you know displeases God, that is to say, from every mortal sin. You should permit yourself to be tormented by every kind of martyrdom before you would allow yourself to commit a mortal sin. Listen to the divine Mass with pleasure and devotion. As long as you are in church, be careful not to let your eyes wander and not to speak empty words, but pray to the Lord devoutly, either aloud or with the interior prayer of the heart. Be kindhearted to the poor, the unfor-tunate and the afflicted. Give them as much help and consolation as you can. Thank God for all the benefits he has bestowed upon you, that you may be worthy to receive greater.
Now these words are a true challenge in the face of the college scene today…. I thought how I will pray for the parents and their college bound children at Mass this weekend.
YOUNG COUPLES AND FAMILIES
As the sun began to rise calling me to prepare myself for the morning Mass I thought about how many of my couples who, over the past few years, were married here on the corner come to Mass every weekend. Now they are presenting children to us in baptism and pro-foundly giving me great hope for the future of our parish. I can not tell you how much this warms my heart. I look out among the filled pews every Sunday and think how wonderfully represented the body of Christ is with each and every age group!! Filled pews and smiling faces make me so proud as a pastor. I prayed as I got up from my rocker and thanked God for giving me another year to share, nurture and grow with a community of believers and dedicated individuals who respond every day with their lives to the love of Christ. THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS CLEARLY AT HAND!!! |
|
|
|
|
Wed ........................................................................ Cantors/Choir LOOK FOR A NEW EVENTS PAGE!!! COMING SOON!!! |
|
Last Updated ( Monday, 30 August 2010 )
|
|
|
Please pray for the families of George Korbelic, III and Anna Neiman, who died recently. Also pray for the family of Bill Mathews, whose sister, Marilyn Mathews, died recently. |
|
Last Updated ( Monday, 30 August 2010 )
|
|
|
