A Retreat, A Reminder, and A Thank You

Friends, peace be with you.

You may notice that all the weekday Masses are canceled this week.This was supposed to be my pilgrimage to Israel but, unfortunately, that will not be happening because of the war. Instead, I’ll be spending a week as an oblate member of Conception Abbey in Northern Missouri. Please pray for me and for peace in Jerusalem. Next weekend, Fr. Wayne Dressler and Fr. Greg Bahl will be celebrating the Masses in my absence and then I hope to be back the following Tuesday. Please offer Fr. Wayne and Fr. Greg a big “thank you” for their willingness to help while I’m gone. As I noted in a recent bulletin column, there are not many substitutes available and I very much appreciate knowing that you are all in good hands when I’m gone. 

On a completely different topic, on the weekend of October 28-29 I announced that the loose change and currency would be going to Metro Catholic Outreach. As I understand, it used to be common that we would donate the fourth Sunday collection of every month either to MCO or St. Vincent de Paul along with collecting food for them. It is my strong desire to start this practice up again. I don’t know when it was discontinued but I’ve been told that it happened during the pandemic when, overall, our collections were down. Nonetheless, I believe it’s imperative that a parish model the kind of charitable giving we expect our parishioners to have. And I’ve experienced times when people may not want to give money to the parish either because they didn’t like me or were concerned about a statement by a bishop or a pope who could give to this because it goes to the poor. It also seems the more charitable the parish is, the more generous people are. 

Lastly, and again on a completely different topic, I’d like to conclude my bulletin columns this month with thanksgiving. I know I will miss someone obvious if I start to name names but please know that I’m thinking of specific people the whole time I write this. Let me start by thanking all the people who volunteer at our fundraising meals like the fish fries or the donuts on Sundays or the people who make treats for the Coffee Klatch on Thursdays or the people who used to staff the kitchen for Bingo and every other situation involving people donating their time to prepare and serve food. You are building community and helping people to feel a part of this parish. And I have no doubt that you are also giving food to the hungry and giving hope to people who have none. I think of the people who would normally be sitting at home alone on a Sunday morning who now have someone to talk to or who would normally be going to a grungy bar to get drunk on a Friday in Lent who are, instead, coming to church and having a meal with holy friends. What you are doing may seem unimportant and can’t always be evaluated by numbers. Thank you so much for all you do!