LC and Darryl will be arriving tonight and staying until Sunday. Judy and Paul (both Rutgers friends) will be arriving on Saturday and staying until Sunday.
With so many out-of-town guests coming at once and staying with me (it’s like a stressful but wonderful dream come true!), I have almost entirely forgotten that they are coming to help me celebrate my birthday!
I suppose it’s tied to the fact that I have been cleaning and arranging and preparing for the big Italian feast to be cooked Saturday night that I have lost sight of the real reason why they are all coming. (Almost like a much, much less important version of how people forget the real reason we celebrate Christmas with all the buying and running around we do!)
I’m looking forward to a fun, maybe not relaxed but definitely carefree weekend and a nice day off on Monday so mom and I can make one of our quarterly trips up to QVC for some shopping.
It’s going to be a great 3-day weekend spent with a lot of people who I love.
I am grateful for another year of blessings, good health, wonderful people in my life, and a Savior who loves miserable little me, despite me!
Friday, March 28, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
A tale of two parishes...
My parish is presently involved in a situation that, sadly, many Catholic parishes find themselves involved in these days.
Due to the fact that fewer men are answering the call to become priests, parishes are being forced to merge together, or in even worse cases, small parishes are forced to simply close their doors because of the lack of priests available to lead these flocks.
Note that I said “fewer men are answering the call to become priests.” Be certain that God is not calling any fewer men to the priesthood. It’s simply that fewer men are hearing and answering the call. In today’s society, how can we expect anything to be any different, really? The lure of money, success, women, materialism, etc, is very strong and many young men who are being called to be priests are plugging up their ears to the concept of sacrificing all of these worldly things and themselves for the bride for Christ. We all do that to some degree, whether God is asking us to sacrifice of ourselves to become a servant as a priest or if He is asking us to go back to mass regularly, stop gossiping, start praying a rosary, stop drinking, really develop a deep relationship with Him, etc. I am as guilty of it as anyone else.
So my parish is in the process of being merged with another parish in the next town. My parish was a relatively young parish, as far as Catholic churches go. The church was built in the mid- to late-70s. The road to get to this merger was long and tedious. There was what they called a “collaborative study,” which consisted of lay representatives and the pastor of several churches in our “cluster” of the diocese. They met for over a year. The saddest thing is that this decision of who was merging with who was very likely made before the collaborative study ever began and much of it was a pointless, albeit frustrating, exercise for those involved.
As a result of this merger, which is still in process and should be completed over the summer, we lost our pastor (all of the parishes who had to merge did, so no one could claim favoritism). We loved our pastor. He has only been with us for 3 or 4 years, but had made us a holier, more orthodox, and more devout group of Catholics.
There are a lot of hard feelings all the way around. I don’t have any really, but I see it all around me. Some people want to leave the parish and go elsewhere. While I believe a person needs to be comfortable in their parish and go where they feel they will be fed, I personally have no intention of leaving my parish. I am “fed” by the Lord and his servants on earth in a variety of ways in a variety of places and not just in the masses at my parish.
Jesus is still in my parish 24 hours a day in the Blessed Sacrament. I still receive Him at every mass. So while some folks are watching the new pastor under a microscope and picking apart everything he does that is different from our previous pastor (hey, they aren't twins!), I can’t help but constantly remember that God will never be outdone. He willed this merger. And, and the end of the day it will “be for our welfare, not our woe.” While it may not seem that way right now, with time, it will be revealed to us, just like everything else.
A blessed holy week and glorious Easter to all of you!
Due to the fact that fewer men are answering the call to become priests, parishes are being forced to merge together, or in even worse cases, small parishes are forced to simply close their doors because of the lack of priests available to lead these flocks.
Note that I said “fewer men are answering the call to become priests.” Be certain that God is not calling any fewer men to the priesthood. It’s simply that fewer men are hearing and answering the call. In today’s society, how can we expect anything to be any different, really? The lure of money, success, women, materialism, etc, is very strong and many young men who are being called to be priests are plugging up their ears to the concept of sacrificing all of these worldly things and themselves for the bride for Christ. We all do that to some degree, whether God is asking us to sacrifice of ourselves to become a servant as a priest or if He is asking us to go back to mass regularly, stop gossiping, start praying a rosary, stop drinking, really develop a deep relationship with Him, etc. I am as guilty of it as anyone else.
So my parish is in the process of being merged with another parish in the next town. My parish was a relatively young parish, as far as Catholic churches go. The church was built in the mid- to late-70s. The road to get to this merger was long and tedious. There was what they called a “collaborative study,” which consisted of lay representatives and the pastor of several churches in our “cluster” of the diocese. They met for over a year. The saddest thing is that this decision of who was merging with who was very likely made before the collaborative study ever began and much of it was a pointless, albeit frustrating, exercise for those involved.
As a result of this merger, which is still in process and should be completed over the summer, we lost our pastor (all of the parishes who had to merge did, so no one could claim favoritism). We loved our pastor. He has only been with us for 3 or 4 years, but had made us a holier, more orthodox, and more devout group of Catholics.
There are a lot of hard feelings all the way around. I don’t have any really, but I see it all around me. Some people want to leave the parish and go elsewhere. While I believe a person needs to be comfortable in their parish and go where they feel they will be fed, I personally have no intention of leaving my parish. I am “fed” by the Lord and his servants on earth in a variety of ways in a variety of places and not just in the masses at my parish.
Jesus is still in my parish 24 hours a day in the Blessed Sacrament. I still receive Him at every mass. So while some folks are watching the new pastor under a microscope and picking apart everything he does that is different from our previous pastor (hey, they aren't twins!), I can’t help but constantly remember that God will never be outdone. He willed this merger. And, and the end of the day it will “be for our welfare, not our woe.” While it may not seem that way right now, with time, it will be revealed to us, just like everything else.
A blessed holy week and glorious Easter to all of you!
Friday, March 07, 2008
Jermaine, where are you?
Have you ever had a friend who literally went missing?
Well, that's my Jermaine. Now, he goes missing regularly, so I don't want to make a huge fuss, but the trouble is, he usually resurfaces within less than a year and that has not happened this time. If I don't hear from him by my birthday at the end of the month, that's when my concerns will become very serious.
The last I knew, he and his brothers were moving. So, I have no phone number or address. The last time I heard from him was when he visited this blog for my birthday last year.
I don't think he even got to read the lovely open letter I posted to you for your birthday in August.
Jermaine, if you happen to see this, please make yourself known to me. I pray the Lord is blessing your life and keeping you safe.
Well, that's my Jermaine. Now, he goes missing regularly, so I don't want to make a huge fuss, but the trouble is, he usually resurfaces within less than a year and that has not happened this time. If I don't hear from him by my birthday at the end of the month, that's when my concerns will become very serious.
The last I knew, he and his brothers were moving. So, I have no phone number or address. The last time I heard from him was when he visited this blog for my birthday last year.
I don't think he even got to read the lovely open letter I posted to you for your birthday in August.
Jermaine, if you happen to see this, please make yourself known to me. I pray the Lord is blessing your life and keeping you safe.
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