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From the Pastor&
Perhaps the reason angels can fly is because they take themselves lightly. -- G.K. Chesterton
What is generosity? It is nobility, it is expansion of the heart. As the heart expands, so the horizon becomes wide, and one finds greater and greater scope in which to build the kingdom of God.
--Pir-O-Murshid Inayatkham
I do not believe that the meaning of life is a puzzle to be solved. Life is. Anything can happen. And I believe I may invest my life with meaning.
--Rabbi Abraham Heschel
A few weeks ago I was listening to the radio and two sportscasters were discussing the career of the late Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears. He was the all-time leading ground gainer in the National Football League.
What a runner! All together in his career Payton gained over 9 miles rushing. Just imagine! Every 4.6 yards of the way, somebody was knocking him down!! No wonder so many priests, ministers and rabbis like football. We can identify with people like Walter Payton. Maybe you can too. Life can be like a journey with somebody knocking you down every few yards.
Don Yaeger, who is working on the final draft of Payton's autobiography, Never Die Easy, visited, "sweetness" (Payton's nickname) a few weeks before he died. He asked him if he ever yelled at God, questioning why he had been stricken with both a deadly liver disease and cancer. Payton's answer, "Are you serious? I'm not mad at anyone, especially God. I don't feel sorry for myself, because that's the first step toward giving up, and I'm not giving up. I know something good is going to come of this. I just haven't figured out what it is yet." Payton's mind and spirit refused to give up, but his body did. Yaeger's article on Payton can be found in the November 8 issue of Sports Illustrated.
Self-help books promise slick, glib one-minute solutions to our every problem. Many problems are not so easily dealt with. Ask someone with cancer, MS or AIDS. Ask anyone with an abusive spouse or someone with a chemically dependent child. Or the person struggling with depression, or loneliness or grief.
Sometimes we get knocked down when we don't deserve it. That's one thing that makes getting knocked down difficult to accept. Once, when Bob Hope received a major award he responded, "I don't deserve this, but then I have arthritis and I don't deserve that either." Sometimes we just can't figure out why life has struck us down at various points along the journey. Life can be unfair.
As we conduct our Capital Campaign door to door, I really want to thank and to encourage all the volunteers doing this task on behalf of the entire parish. Some of you might get an "ear-full"; somebody might slam the phone down; somebody might get angry and dump on you. You don't deserve to be treated in an uncharitable way, but it happens to all of us everyday. It's a difficult job in this day and age to ask for money. Please know that most parish
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ioners are really grateful that you are giving up your time to do this.
We're like baby crocodiles. After they are born these little creatures thrash around in the water doing the dog paddle to stay afloat. Only after they swallow some stones, which are used for digestion, do they gain the proper balance to swim horizontally.
May God bless this parish endeavor.
Many thanks to everyone who volunteers their time for this faith community.
Pastoral Ministry&
FAMILY EDUCATION: THE GRIEVING FAMILY
As part of our Faith Formation series "Open Wide the Doors to Christ", the Pastoral Ministry Office is pleased to present the following educational program for families:
WHAT: Grief Within Families: family members can often experience the same loss in very different ways. Death, divorce, loss of job can mean different things to different members of immediate or extended family. For example, the death of a grandparent can also be a loss of a parent, a sibling, or a spouse. While grieving is a universal process everyone experiences at some time, the grief itself is often felt in a particular or specific way, depending on the relationship one has to the loss.
WHO: Mr. Ted Bowman, Trainer and Consultant specializing in grief and loss concerns. He is often one of the presenters at our Growing Through Loss series. Ted also is the author of the popular booklet entitled, "Loss of Dreams" Come and hear him describe how loss affects family members in various ways and how we can be supportive of one another in our grief.
WHEN: Tuesday, November 30, 1999 7:00pm
WHERE: St. John's Parish Center, Francis Room
This presentation is appropriate for singles, parents, and children age 12 and older. Parents of younger children are invited to come for themselves and the educational information. Questions?? Call Mary Ann Kelly-Wright in the Pastoral Ministry Office.
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