From the Pastor&

• Problems will make you bitter or better.
  
  God afflicts us with people according to our needs.
  

     Some people think that "hell" will be one committee meeting after another.  I've come to the conclusion that "hell" for me would be shopping.  I absolutely hate to shop--except for books.  I usually do my grocery shopping during the "off" hours.  A friend of mine, Ralph, sells men's clothing.  When I know he is coming for Mass and breakfast,  I call and tell him what shirts or pants I need, but I still have to go in person to buy my shoes.  I buy two pairs so I won't have to go for another six months.  What is it about shopping that drives me up a wall?  Is it a "guy" thing?  Or, does it mean I need more patience in my life?  Maybe women are more patient than men!
     Would I trade places with a working mom who has little children to drop off at daycare, go to work, pick up the kids before daycare closes, stop for groceries with the kids, prepare dinner--with the kids, do the laundry--with the kids, help older children with homework, take one of the kids to scouts or soccer practice, and the list goes on!?! How do you do it?  You must be a saint with the patience of Job!  I won't complain if you come to Mass late--with your children following you.  What can we do at St. John's to help you?
      Sometimes I know that there will delays--traffic delays is just one of them.  I always get in the check-out line where someone wants to carry on a conversation with the cashier.  I can understand if it is an elderly person, but if it's a middle-aged person I get impatient.  At work, I sign out at the time I leave, and I will be back at a certain time--I try to stay on schedule.  But the line at Synders or at the bank takes longer than I expected.  I run to lunch and have to wait for a table--throwing me off schedule.  My friend, Fr. Paul Moudry, is always late for our dinner engagements.  I just expect him to be late now.  I don't know how Fr. Michael can time himself to arrive five minutes before Mass on weekdays--I'd be a wreck.  I've got my schedule, my routine.  Punctuality is a virtue, isn't it?  But is patience a greater virtue?  As I write this, I feel I need to learn more humility and accept the delays and imperfections of life.
     What can I do to learn more patience?  I believe God has been very patient with me.  My friends and co-workers are patient with me.  Maybe you, too, are patient with me.  I realize now how patient my parents were with me as I was growing up.  I'm sure Archbishop Flynn is patient with me, too!  Patience is one of the twelve gifts of the Holy Spirit.  It means to bear or endure.  You would think that patience would be my middle-name working for the Church.  Fr. Yves Conger, who was a theological expert about the Church, saw patience as one of the necessary conditions for true church reform.
     So what can I do?  As one wise woman said:  plant an acorn... befriend a turtle... teach a child.  I need to walk with God... or take a slow, leisurely stroll.  But how can I stroll in Minnesota in February?  If spring would only get here in a hurry!
God Bless You!
Fr. Bill