Guest Columnist&  

     Do you remember, as a kid, when your imagination knew no boundaries?  You could very easily imagine yourself on the moon, eating green cheese, and watching the cow jump over your head.  You could be the super hero who rescued the world from the mad scientist.  You could easily imagine yourself as the prima ballerina with roses at your feet from your admiring fans.
     Of course, we're older now and our imaginations are, for the most part, of a more practical nature (although I can still see myself accepting the academy award for... ).
     Thanks to imagination we have cars to drive, and books to read.  We can microwave a quick meal or have a pizza delivered.  We can cross the oceans in a manner of hours.  We can replace knees and hips.  We can communicate with family and friends who are thousands of miles away by  picking up the phone and calling them or by banging on a keyboard.   The list goes on and on.
     People's imaginations have, arguably, made our world a better place to live.  As new ideas are realized, as technology blazes on, as the word fast becomes synonymous with convenient, a number of us find ourselves longing for the "old days," when life was slower and seemingly less complicated.
     Whether we are happy in the present or long for the past, we cannot deny the power of people's imaginations coming to life .  I once heard it said that if you can imagine something it can be done. 
     Progress is great.  God blessed us with the ability to make what we can imagine come true.  He didn't make it easy.  It takes hard work and often many failures for our ideas to be become reality.  In the end those who persevere succeed.
     In 1833, Frederic Ozanam, a 20-year-old-student in Paris, France and a group of his friends, in answer to a taunt for Christians to "Practice what they preach", imagined what the world could be like and began seeking out and visiting the poor of Paris in their homes, taking them bread and clothes, their friendship and their concern.  They took as their Patron the Great French Priest, who alerted the world to social problems, St. Vincent de Paul.
     Soon groups began to spread throughout the Christian world with the object of visiting, for the love of God, those in need. 
     Here at St. John's we have such a group.  The Society of St. Vincent de Paul meets on the third Tuesday of the month.  Our focus is on helping those people who are in need of temporary financial assistance to help them over whatever life challenge has come their way.
      Thanks to the generosity of the people of St. John's, the needy of our community have had help paying the rent,   utility bills, past due car insurance, medical bills and transportation costs.  Many have used our food shelf.  A list of social and government agencies helps them find other sources of help. 
     As stewards of your money, we carefully screen each    request and offer assistance based on a face-to-face interview.  The needy live here in our community and we are often their last hope.