Opportunity to clean out your basement or downsize.
ST. VINCENT DE PAUL DONATION TRUCK
Saturday, Oct. 6, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 7, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
We are looking for gently-used clothing, shoes, household and kitchen items, tools, appliances, furniture, sporting goods, books and toys.
RAIN OR SHINE
Church parking lot
Hello,
I don’t know if you noticed but peach season seems to have just come to an end. Around St. Louis you can particularly tell the peach season because not only do the prices go down but you see the local Eckert’s peaches around also. The interesting thing about peach season and the seasons for other fruits is that unlike many things, when they are most abundant and the cheapest is also when they are in season and at their best. Unlike years ago when you could only get the fruits when they were in season, (and you had to can them or freeze them if you wanted them a different time of the year), now you can usually get almost any type of fruit any time of the year, but it may be from a different country, it probably is going to cost a lot more, and it won’t taste as good as when it is locally in season.
As I was thinking about that I realized that it had some parallels with another part of our lives, are we going to follow our schedule or God’s schedule? Our will or God’s will? Just like the fruits, God has given us enough freedom that usually if we are stubborn enough and put in enough effort we can live on our schedule and just follow our will over God’s schedule and will. But also like the fruit, it is a lot more expensive and is never going to be as good.
Like the fruits, there are natural ways in which they grow, how they were created and how they were meant to be, and so it is with us. So we can spend our efforts trying to be something that we are not, and never being able to do it as well as we could have been what God had meant us to be, that is natural for us. Or we can spend a bit of effort trying to find out how God has meant us to be, and then try to live that way. For the fruit it is finding out the right seasons, the weather, the soil, the environmental conditions where it grows the best, and then when it is best to harvest them. For us our environment also matters, the people and experiences we are exposed to. How prepared we are for when we experience the different Challenges and changes in our lives. I thinkJesus had a few parables about weeds and rocky soil that would work in here too. Don’t worry, I won’t get into any arguments about organic fruits versus genetically modified ones here, that is a little bit beyond the depth of my comparison. I did notice though that the grapes looked really good and were on sale the other day and I think Helen Keller had the right attitude when she said, “So much has been given to me I have not time to ponder over that which has been denied.” Maybe we just need to focus a little more on what God is giving us today.
Peace,
Fr. Nick
Hello,
Two weeks ago I wrote about some of the things the Church has done since 2002 when we became painfully aware of some of the extent of abuse of children by priests in the past and the failure to have done more to prevent this. I also mentioned that we need to do what we can to hold authorities more accountable for their actions in attempting to change this in our Church and in our society. In our society we need to consider, propose, and support laws that may help victims and to protect the vulnerable. In the Church we need to also make our voices heard to consider, propose, and support changes that can help.
One of the main ways to make our voices heard in the Church is the same way as it is in the rest of society, to write to those in positions of authority. Specifically I can write to the head of our local church, Archbishop Carlson; the head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo; and to Pope Francis. Their addresses are as follows:
Archbishop Robert Carlson
20 Archbishop May Dr.
St. Louis, MO 63119Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo
President – USCCB
3211 Fourth Street NE
Washington, DC 200017His Holiness, Pope Francis
Apostolic Palace
00120 Vatican City
I plan on writing them this week to express my concerns as well as those parishioners have expressed to me.
Just today I saw a letter to the USCCB from Anne M. Burke published in the Chicago – Sun-Times. She served as an Interim Chair of the National Review Board of the USCCB that was formed 15 years ago to address reports of sexual abuse in the Church at that time. She, and the rest of that independent board, are volunteering to investigate recent concerns in the Church and listed the questions they feel need to be answered. I am grateful for her sending this letter and providing a step in a possible path forward.
In addition to writing those I mention above, you can also write, e-mail, or talk to me. I am grateful for those who have already communicated with me about this topic and invite you to continue to do so. I know that this is not something that is simply addressed in one letter, or one homily, but something we must continue to work and pray to overcome.
Peace,
Fr. Nick
