From the Pastor&
      Last week I had lunch at Joe DiMaggio's Sports Bar in Fridley with Father Kennedy, the pastor of St. William's.  There was an advertisement on the T.V. for the Ab Slide, a complete upper body workout that shapes, tones, stretches and strengthens in just minutes a day!  I told him that I just bought it.  He sarcastically responded that the archdiocese is taking away cable T.V. from me.  I said, "They can't.  That's my only enjoyment after a hard day at the factory."  I hate to admit it, but I have purchased a few items from the Home Shopping Channel.  And, I was completely sober!
     Will the Ab Slide work?  I used it once and now it's gathering dust, just like the rowing machine and Nordic Track that serves as a wonderful thing to throw my clothes on at the end of the day.  Truth in advertising!  I suppose that the Ab Slide does work--if I used it.  I doubt that the ad is false or exaggerated.
     We want to believe that those advertisements are telling us the truth.  We want to believe that politicians are telling us the truth during their campaigns.  We want to believe in our government.  Often, we are disappointed.  But, Jesus Christ was the most truthful person we will ever encounter in our life.  He never made false claims about himself, God, or his teaching.  He did not promise what he could not deliver.
      Jesus was totally honest, brutally so, about the cost of discipleship.  He was up-front and didn't gloss over the hard realities and demands, nor minimize, what it would take to be his follower.  Some people have completely understood the teachings of Jesus.  Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day, and the Lutheran Pastor/Martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, understood that Jesus' whole life was based on a radical, uncompromising commitment to the Father's will, whatever the implications, and, that Jesus wanted others to fully appreciate what committing themselves to God meant.  "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."  These are difficult, but true words.
     Lent is about restoring truthfulness to our lives.  We are asked to be honest with ourselves and look at our faith and the way we live it out each day.  We have to admit our sin and the ways we compromise our gospel-living, and acknowledge our need for God's grace and mercy.  The only way a Christian can find his or her true life is to lose their false life.  Are we truthful people?
     Every Sunday, when we gather for the Eucharist, is a time of real honesty.  At the Lord's table, as we experience and acknowledge his love, we confront the gap between his love and the way we often live.  He constantly reminds us that we must lose our life in order to find it.
     Lent 2001.  What do we need to lose in order to find our TRUE SELVES?  Do we trust the Master?  As we pray, fast and give alms in His name, what do we need to be honest about with ourselves?
     Happy Lent!  Happy true-self discovery!

     Fr. Bill

WHO'S KNOCKING?

     Picture...A developmentally-delayed person in need of supportive help to maintain her rent payments with a part-time job at $7.00 an hour; A family of five trying to keep afloat with two minimum wage salaries& their kids in need of some after school mentoring and encouraging; A young couple from a small town up north who decide to look for a better life in the cities, now faced with not housing prospects and a child on the way; A diabetic, each day compromising his health since his rent increased and he can no longer afford all the medicines; A single mom with two kids who can't always get beds in shelters since her car broke down.  The 3,000+ Minnesota children, average age six and a half, whose lives are seriously compromised with emotional, medical, and learning problems because of homelessness& an increase of 300% since the 1990s.  Vulnerable kids through no fault of their own.  This is Minnesota, the quality of life of which we are so proud.
     The face of homelessness has changed.  There are 16,000 Minnesotans living in crisis situations because of homelessness for a variety of reasons, once being the raising of sub-standard housing areas with few options for the displaced.  Is this Jesus asking for our response? 

Are we receptive to learning more of the situation, to  support metro-wide organizations working toward solutions, to being sensitive to the victims of this crisis, contributing time and resources in our community?  I hear you, Jesus!