From the Pastor&

Do you ever have one of those days when you'd prefer to the be the "Welcome to Wal-Mart, would you like a cart?" greeters?  Sometime we might feel like failures in our professional, spiritual and personal lives.  The other morning I felt overwhelmed by the cost of our building project and the decline in weekly revenues this fiscal year. I had to stop and acknowledge to God that I can't handle or control everything in my life.  I needed to remind myself that God knows what is going on in my life.  I needed a reminder that God is present, ready to take my hand and help me through a few other situations I'd rather not deal with.
All of us, sooner or later in life, experience setbacks and disappointments.  There's a tendency to feel doubt and panic when everything doesn't go quite right.  We can get trapped or find a deliberate and careful course of action.  An inspiring lesson comes from the great football player, Johnny Unitas.
Before he ended up on NFL Hall of Fame as one of the greatest quarterbacks to play the sport, he had several major rejections.  As a high school athlete, he wanted to go on to play college football, but none of the larger universities to which he applied wanted him -- he was too small and too slow.  So Unitas went to a small college where he played football and excelled.
After college he wanted to play professional football and tried out for his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers.  He was cut from the team early on.  He wouldn't accept the verdict that he wasn't cut out to play professional football, so he came up with a plan of action.  First, he found a job in the construction business so he could support himself.  Second, he played in a league which paid him $3 per game and allowed him to continue developing his skills.  Third, he continued to write and phone NFL teams seeking an opportunity to try out.  After seven months he received an invitation from the Baltimore Colts -- on his way to making sports history.  We, too, can learn to act instead of reacting.
Failure isn't a permanent condition.  No matter what happens in our lives, there are options, and we have the power to choose.  The key is to see the advantage in the adversity.  There are times in everyone's life when it's easy to quit, easy to lower the standard, and easy to abandon our dreams.
Remember the story of St. Peter.  He was disloyal to Jesus -- denying any association with him on three separate occasions.  In spite of his betrayal, he was restored and became an important leader in the early church.  What if Peter had decided he was a loser and not worth anything?  Peter had the free will and made a choice to recommit himself.  He's a great example to  all of us who fail& we can learn from failure and become better people.
Helen Keller stated:  "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all."  If we want to improve our lives, we have to risk failure:  Fear of failure can be changed into an opportunity to strengthen our faith.
Now, about our shortfall...

Fr.  Bill