So, the end of the world has come and gone! That wasn't too bad, was it?
I just kind of chuckle and shake my head when I hear all the commotion regarding the end times and all the predictions as to the day and the hour when this will happen. It gives credence to the saying , 'There's a sucker born every minute!'
To me, the saddest part in all of this is the millions of dollars this scam artist is making, when that money could be spent assisting those most in need in our world. As the Gospels tell us, God does not want us sitting around waiting for His return. Rather, this period of waiting that we are in must be filled with activity - doing the work of the Lord. WE help to bring about the Kingdom whenever we reach out to assist those who need our help.
While part of me says the Law of Averages show that one of these predictions just has to be right (after 2,000 years of wrong predictions, someone's gotta be right!), I also know that whenever the Lord returns should be of little consequence as long as we are ready and prepared. IF we live each and every day as Jesus has taught, then whenever he returns, we can rejoice and go on to the eternal life we so long for.
Monday, May 23, 2011
tempus fugit
So, it's been two weeks since I blogged. How time flies....sometimes! It seems the sun has not been out since then, and THAT definitely seems like a long, long time! May be I should change the background on this blog! (I chose this background because it reminded me of the weather when climbing in the White Mountains!)
Anyway, since I last blogged, I had a meeting with the Archdiocese's Small Christian Communities Pastors' Team. For those not familiar with Small Christian Communities (SCC's), they are based on the model used in the early church. Small groups of believers met to reflect on the Scriptures and to be a support group for one another. The SCC's today do the same things. They meet weekly to reflect on the Scripture readings for the coming Sunday, to listen to the Word speak to them personally, and to share their thoughts with one another, assisting each other's faith journey.
Brother Bob Moriarty who leads the diocesan office for SCC's is tweaking the model to provide more time for silence within the weekly format. Silence is a beautiful, but under-used thing in our prayer lives. So often we, myself included, tend to fill our prayers with words. And when we do, there is very little space for God to speak to US! When we take the time to quiet ourselves, freeing our hearts and minds of all the 'pressing' things of our day, then GOD can fill us with what HE wants. And then we find that true peace we so desperately seek, because then OUR hearts and minds are in tune with the heart and mind of God. And when that happens, it is truly a beautiful thing.
So, we met for a few hours trying the new format and now we are ready to introduce it to the SCC groups in our parish. Reaction should be interesting!
On Friday the 13th, the school children held a breakfast for me in honor of Pastor Appreciation Day. They all made cards - the older children made individual cards, the younger children made group cards. But the most precious, by far, was the card from Pre-K - a simple 18x24 white piece of construction paper with big blue letters that say 'Pre-K loves Fr. Nick' and a colored fingerprint from each child that was transformed into a ladybug, or a sunshine face, or a flower. It is so cute. A keeper, for sure!
On Wednesday I was treated to a game at Fenway Park. Not sure if 'treated' is necessarily the right word here. I brought winter attire and was glad I did: woolen hat, gloves, neck gaitor and lots of layers! Used it all. And although the rain held off for most of the day/evening, the fog was quite an experience. I could hardly make out the fans on the opposite side of the stadium, and the landmark Cigo sign was not visible either. Fortunately for the Sox, there was 30 minute rain delay in the 7th inning. That got the Tiger's starter out of the game, and the Sox scored the only run of the game the next inning to win 1-0!
Yesterday we celebrated the third and final First Communion for our young people. This time it was the school children. It is always an uplifting occasion for me to preside at these sacraments of initiation - I can recall my own celebration of these sacraments, and how excited I was, and how it led me eventually to ordination. And I hope and pray that the Holy Spirit will work through these children in the same way, drawing them ever closer to a life with Jesus, and in service to their brothers and sisters.
Anyway, since I last blogged, I had a meeting with the Archdiocese's Small Christian Communities Pastors' Team. For those not familiar with Small Christian Communities (SCC's), they are based on the model used in the early church. Small groups of believers met to reflect on the Scriptures and to be a support group for one another. The SCC's today do the same things. They meet weekly to reflect on the Scripture readings for the coming Sunday, to listen to the Word speak to them personally, and to share their thoughts with one another, assisting each other's faith journey.
Brother Bob Moriarty who leads the diocesan office for SCC's is tweaking the model to provide more time for silence within the weekly format. Silence is a beautiful, but under-used thing in our prayer lives. So often we, myself included, tend to fill our prayers with words. And when we do, there is very little space for God to speak to US! When we take the time to quiet ourselves, freeing our hearts and minds of all the 'pressing' things of our day, then GOD can fill us with what HE wants. And then we find that true peace we so desperately seek, because then OUR hearts and minds are in tune with the heart and mind of God. And when that happens, it is truly a beautiful thing.
So, we met for a few hours trying the new format and now we are ready to introduce it to the SCC groups in our parish. Reaction should be interesting!
On Friday the 13th, the school children held a breakfast for me in honor of Pastor Appreciation Day. They all made cards - the older children made individual cards, the younger children made group cards. But the most precious, by far, was the card from Pre-K - a simple 18x24 white piece of construction paper with big blue letters that say 'Pre-K loves Fr. Nick' and a colored fingerprint from each child that was transformed into a ladybug, or a sunshine face, or a flower. It is so cute. A keeper, for sure!
On Wednesday I was treated to a game at Fenway Park. Not sure if 'treated' is necessarily the right word here. I brought winter attire and was glad I did: woolen hat, gloves, neck gaitor and lots of layers! Used it all. And although the rain held off for most of the day/evening, the fog was quite an experience. I could hardly make out the fans on the opposite side of the stadium, and the landmark Cigo sign was not visible either. Fortunately for the Sox, there was 30 minute rain delay in the 7th inning. That got the Tiger's starter out of the game, and the Sox scored the only run of the game the next inning to win 1-0!
Yesterday we celebrated the third and final First Communion for our young people. This time it was the school children. It is always an uplifting occasion for me to preside at these sacraments of initiation - I can recall my own celebration of these sacraments, and how excited I was, and how it led me eventually to ordination. And I hope and pray that the Holy Spirit will work through these children in the same way, drawing them ever closer to a life with Jesus, and in service to their brothers and sisters.
Monday, May 9, 2011
meetings
Today was a really gorgeous spring day! Bright sunshine, temps in the low 70's, a slight breeze - the kind of day where I am jealous of people who work outdoors for a living. While I did manage to get over an hour of walking in at noontime, I still had to spend most of the day indoors at meetings.
Our Business Manager, and two members of our Finance Council and I met with representatives from one of our banks to discuss our portfolio of investments for the Parish Cemetery. Portfolios are not my forte; in fact I know next to nothing about them, and that lack of knowledge has me a bit scared of them as well. Luckily, I have people who DO know more than a little about these things to assist me and make recommendations, which is why we asked the banking reps in to explain where we are and where we are headed and to ask for some new possible proposals for investing. I must admit we learned nothing of these things in seminary!
Following that meeting, I met with our Principal to interview a prospective teacher for our 8th grade for next year. We have a couple of long-time faculty retiring at the end of the current year, and so we are interviewing interested candidates. These candidates are pre-approved by the Office of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese. While I leave the ultimate decision for hiring to the Principal since she has to work with her faculty every day and is responsible for the everyday running of the school, I still like to meet those she interviews and is interested in hiring. The interview went well.
Tonight we had our Pastoral Council meeting, the last one before summer. The three newly elected members joined us for the first time, and they brought an enthusiasm that was not present recently. They volunteered for new committees and are excited to be part of the workings of our parish. It is heart-warming to see people step forward and take ownership of their church; people who are willing to give of their time/talent/treasure to advance the work of our parish.
While our guest speaker took ill today and was not able to join us, we did have good discussions on many topics ranging from the possible purchase of a defibrilator machine, to our 150th anniversary book, to a revision of the Council By-Laws. I know that I left that meeting feeling we had accomplished something.
Now I hope to catch an inning or two of the Sox before going to bed. Hope they can get closer to .500!
Our Business Manager, and two members of our Finance Council and I met with representatives from one of our banks to discuss our portfolio of investments for the Parish Cemetery. Portfolios are not my forte; in fact I know next to nothing about them, and that lack of knowledge has me a bit scared of them as well. Luckily, I have people who DO know more than a little about these things to assist me and make recommendations, which is why we asked the banking reps in to explain where we are and where we are headed and to ask for some new possible proposals for investing. I must admit we learned nothing of these things in seminary!
Following that meeting, I met with our Principal to interview a prospective teacher for our 8th grade for next year. We have a couple of long-time faculty retiring at the end of the current year, and so we are interviewing interested candidates. These candidates are pre-approved by the Office of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese. While I leave the ultimate decision for hiring to the Principal since she has to work with her faculty every day and is responsible for the everyday running of the school, I still like to meet those she interviews and is interested in hiring. The interview went well.
Tonight we had our Pastoral Council meeting, the last one before summer. The three newly elected members joined us for the first time, and they brought an enthusiasm that was not present recently. They volunteered for new committees and are excited to be part of the workings of our parish. It is heart-warming to see people step forward and take ownership of their church; people who are willing to give of their time/talent/treasure to advance the work of our parish.
While our guest speaker took ill today and was not able to join us, we did have good discussions on many topics ranging from the possible purchase of a defibrilator machine, to our 150th anniversary book, to a revision of the Council By-Laws. I know that I left that meeting feeling we had accomplished something.
Now I hope to catch an inning or two of the Sox before going to bed. Hope they can get closer to .500!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Faith
Today was a busy day. In the morning I presided at a funeral for a parishioner who was a woman of very deep faith. She had kept a diary for most of her almost 90 years. I have never been a 'diary person', though they had been recommended numerous times in my seminary years. It had always seemed too personal, for some reason. But now that I think about it, is it really any different from blogging?
Anyway, the entries this woman made, including one from 1945 when she was almost 23 years old that was shared at her funeral, were deeply inspiring. She had entered into a conversation with some acquaintance who did not believe in the things she did - the divinity of Jesus, the divine revelation that is the Bible, a personal God, etc. She wrote, 'When I told him he didn't know what he was missing, he said, 'Well then, what's the difference?'' And she ended the entry saying, 'Thank you God for giving me faith. Help me to keep it!'
Indeed she struggled at times to keep that faith, especially in her later years dealing with numerous medical and illness issues. But, she always knew the Lord was there with her, leading her and guiding her. What a remarkable legacy she has left for those privileged to have shared life with her.
Then this evening Archbishop Mansell came to confer the sacrament of confirmation on our young people. As he prayed over them and for them, invoking the gifts of the Holy Spirit, I couldn't help but think these were the very same gifts of faith that this woman nurtured and utilized in her life. And, hopefully, this same Holy Spirit will allow these young people to go forth as people of faith as well, and truly make a difference in their corner of the world.
Anyway, the entries this woman made, including one from 1945 when she was almost 23 years old that was shared at her funeral, were deeply inspiring. She had entered into a conversation with some acquaintance who did not believe in the things she did - the divinity of Jesus, the divine revelation that is the Bible, a personal God, etc. She wrote, 'When I told him he didn't know what he was missing, he said, 'Well then, what's the difference?'' And she ended the entry saying, 'Thank you God for giving me faith. Help me to keep it!'
Indeed she struggled at times to keep that faith, especially in her later years dealing with numerous medical and illness issues. But, she always knew the Lord was there with her, leading her and guiding her. What a remarkable legacy she has left for those privileged to have shared life with her.
Then this evening Archbishop Mansell came to confer the sacrament of confirmation on our young people. As he prayed over them and for them, invoking the gifts of the Holy Spirit, I couldn't help but think these were the very same gifts of faith that this woman nurtured and utilized in her life. And, hopefully, this same Holy Spirit will allow these young people to go forth as people of faith as well, and truly make a difference in their corner of the world.
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