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Connections&
October 28, 2001 -- 30th Sunday of the Year
"The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity--greedy, dishonest, adulterous--or even like this tax collector& "The tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.'" Luke 18:9-14
God doesn't play games
Four years ago, after leading the Jacksonville Jaguars to a playoff victory in Denver, quarterback Mark Brunell suggested--live, on national television--that his team won because it was filled with devout Christians. The sideline reported nodded, as sideline reporters do.
NBC sports anchor Bob Costas, who watched that postgame interview at his home in suburban St. Louis, was asked about his reaction to the scene by Sports Illustrated columnist Steve Rushkin.
"So many of these absurdities are just accepted in sports," Costas said.
"If I had been doing that game and had a minute to fill, I would have been like Howard Beale in Network [the exasperated anchorman who blew a gasket on the air]. How many devout Christians fell before the fists of devout Muslim Muhammad Ali? How many devout Christians swung and missed the high heat of devout Jew Sandy Koufax?
"I understand the concept of the mystery of faith, but it's a strange God indeed that would answer prayers for a free throw and not the prayers of a sick child."
[Sports Illustrated, October 18, 1999.]
CONNECTION: In many of our prayers, we ask God to come around to doing our will; but true prayer is to discover God's will for us. We often approach prayer as making our case before God that we deserve certain blessings--often implying that others do not. Prayer, Jesus teaches, is centered in the grateful humility of the tax collector, not the self-congratulatory praise of the Pharisee. Authentic prayers asks for the things of God and not mere things. Prayer worthy of God's ear seeks the grace to do the work God calls us to do (forgiveness, charity, justice) and to become the people God calls us to become (brothers and sisters under the one heavenly Father). May the prayer of St. Thomas More become the heart of our prayer life: "O God, give us the grace to work for the things we pray for." ¦
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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28
7:30am Mass (Cantor & Organ)
9:30am Mass (Choir & Organ)
11:30am Mass (Spiritu Contemporary Group)
1:00pm Hallelujah Chorus (Choir room)
2:00pm 7th & 8th Grade Schola (Choir room)
3:00pm Hosanna (Choir room)
6:15pm Mass (No music)
MONDAY, OCTOBER 29
9:30am Word/Eucharist
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30
8:30am Mass
7:15pm Spiritu Group (Choir Room)
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31
6:30pm Cantor Rehearsal (Church)
7:15pm Choir practice (Choir Room)
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1--ALL SAINTS
8:30am Mass
10:15am Script/Comm (Innsbruck)
2:00pm Script/Comm (St. Anthony)
2:15pm Mass (Trevilla)
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2--ALL SOULS
8:30am Mass
7:00pm Mass
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3
4:30pm Mass (Cantor & Organ)
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4
7:30am Mass (Cantor & Organ)
9:30am Mass (Choir & Organ)
11:30am Mass (Spiritu Contemporary Group)
6:15pm Mass (No music)
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St. John's Annual
Turkey Dinner
Sunday, November 4, 2001
Sit-Down dinner begins at 11:00 a.m.
Adults $7 Children (10 and under) $3.50
Take-out begins at noon.
WORKERS are needed, both men & women!
Sign up for your favorite job after Mass this week! Confirmation students are invited to sign up for 'hours'. Look for check in sign for
location.
ALSO NEEDED are items for 'Auntie's Attic' crafts, collectibles, jewelry, paintings, and knick knacks (gently used items also accepted). All types of 'food stuff' are acceptable.
Bring your homemade apple or pumpkin pie to St. Joseph Hall before Mass.
For more information call Loretta at 651-633-2857
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