There is a book with a great title, The Shelter of Each Other, by Mary Piper. She writes:

When I was a child, my world was about Sunday dinners, church, school, and farming. Now it's a world about talk-shows, cable television, e-mail, nanoseconds, microwave meals, celebrities, and other people far away getting rich. Our children are growing up in a consumer oriented, electronic community that is teaching them very different values from those we say that we value.

Sometimes, I would just sit in one of the pews and think about all the people who prayed there during two World Wars, the Vietnam and Korean Wars, the Great Depression, and as Interstate 94 was built right along the Basilica, changing the neighborhood and parish. The sacred space of the Basilica calls one to be still and know that God is God. Old churches and homes are full of memories.

I have a box of old pictures, really old. I could never throw away family pictures… parents, grandparents, great grandparents. I like some of the old hymns that have survived despite the music fads of the last 40 years. I have several copies of a really old book, no, an ancient book. It contains timeless stories that shout: Don't quit, don't give up, you can make it. It's the book our ancestors read.  This book is ancient, but it has never lost its relevance. It changed people's lives for thousands of years. Hopefully you have a copy in your home. We read selections from it every Sunday at Mass.

Memories. Memorabilia. It's more than being nostalgic. They remind us that we are not accidents nor alone in the great pilgrimage from earth to heaven. We stand on the shoulders of our family ancestors, the shoulders of other Christians, the shoulders of people who built this country. As we face the challenges of tomorrow, we remember; hopefully we find strength, joy, gratitude, courage, determination, and a little less fear about the future.

It would be a shame to forget the people on whose shoulders we stand!

Fr. Bill

Indeed, everything is changing too fast, even for our teenagers.  Their memories of growing up will be very different from yours and mine. I wonder what their memories of growing up Catholic will be?  Positive?  Negative?  I hope I'm around when they write their "memoirs." 

As everything changes rapidly, I find myself enjoying "older things" that have endured the test of time. I even surround myself with older things in my home. I like old furniture, with some history, far more than modern, uncomfortable stuff. Even the "CDs" that I buy, for the most part, is music from the '30s and '40s, as well as the great classical music of Mozart, Brahms, Beethoven, Bach, and anything by Puccini. Rap, Heavy Metal, and whatever else is popular, just doesn't relax me.

I can spend hours in bookstores that sell old, second-hand books.  My favorite bookstore is Loom's in Stillwater, located in a very old church. They specialize in theological works. Imagine picking up a book that was written fifty or sixty years ago, and it's still a classic.  Maybe if comes from some deceased priest's library. The book was important to him, there are pencil highlights, it's a bit worn.  Buying a second-hand classic is a lot different than buying an updated reprint. Maybe it's the connection to the past that gives me a thrill.

I like old American cities that have kept the charm of old buildings and homes. It's a shame that Minneapolis demolished some great architecture that can't be replaced. There is something very wonderful about the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis and the Cathedral in St. Paul: the stained-glass windows, hardwood floors under the pews, and wooden pews that creak from a hundred years of use. It would be financially impossible to build churches like the Cathedral and Basilica today. I served at the Basilica parish for four years. The building speaks of a Higher Power. The organ fills the enormous space with Bach masterworks.

Editor…………………….…………………………….…………….. Maurice Prater

Contributing Writers……………………………………….……Kristin Anderson, Anne Marie Bartlett,  Pam Capouch, Sue Clausen, Brad & Libby Dupont, Linda Grundtner, Fr. Michael Keating, Dorothy Raetz Kunze,  Mary LaVaque, Bob Mike, Fr. Bill Murtaugh, Maurice Prater, Judy Quayle, Cheri Sykes, Amy Woolf

Layout and Design………..…………………………………...….……Maurice Prater

The Forerunner Logo……………...……………………………....… Bridgette Jacobs

Mailing Coordinator………………...…………………..…………….… Mary Jasicki

St. John's is a big place! The church, the school, the parish campus. We probably have a maintenance crew of about 20 professionals to keep this place spotless, 24/7, right? Can you believe that all this work, day in and day out, is done by only five dedicated people? Next time you're at Mass or in the Adoration Chapel, say a prayer for our maintenance crew. They all work very hard, and we are very fortunate to have their vast talents employed right here at St. John's.

Standing, left to right: Dave Blegen, Kevin Asher, Steve Pudlick

Sitting, let to right:  Patavi Robinson, Rodney Arneson