Dear friends,
Idle thoughts from an idle mind
-On Monday, we had our first organizational meeting with the larger committee for the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the dedication of the 3rd church. I didn’t think to take a count but I’ll bet there were about thirty people in attendance. Had a lot of good comments about the meeting after it was over. Everyone genuinely seemed to be thrilled in anticipation of this celebration. One person wrote me, “ Been in the parish since 1961, the meeting 6/20 was a heart warmer. Always felt this was a special place and Parish, yet the outpouring of love and commitment Monday evening was overwhelming.” My fondest hope is that we could not only keep this up, but spread it far and wide in the parish community. The church building, as beautiful as it is, and a testament to the faith of those who built it, is a symbol of who we are, fifty years later. It not only celebrates those who built it, it celebrates us, as we celebrate it. Let’s mark our calendars now for that evening, October 16, 2010, and let’s spread the word that this will be the greatest celebration of Mount Carmel in almost twenty years.
-Another plug for e-giving. I guess we have around seventy households signed up, as of last week. If you get the impression I’m really pushing this, you guessed right. I heard on the radio sometime last week an opinion that by 2014 our whole checking system will be obsolete and go the way of the two-party line (or four – remember those). I can’t imagine how that could be true but in this day and age, anything is possible. E-giving puts us ready for that. But more importantly, it helps reduce the costs of the envelope system and regularizes the support for the church, eliminating the variances that happen in a weekly collection system. Once again, if you haven’t signed on yet, please consider doing so before you break for summer vacations.
-Speaking of summer vacations, it’s hard to believe that they’re here. With schools now closed and the 4th of July weekend looming, I hope everyone gets that much needed time to unwind, relax, refresh and reconnect with family, both immediate and extended, and with friends.
-with the hot times of summer now here, one single, solitary comment on the recent “hot times” in the Village. While there are strong feelings on both sides, and the issues are certainly critical to the life in the Village, can we keep the debate civil? No matter how you cut it, name-calling & belligerence are never in the spirit of Jesus.
-and finally, speaking of Jesus, we begin this weekend a series of Gospel readings in which Luke uses Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem as the vehicle for His teaching His followers what real discipleship is all about. As you hear and read the gospels each week, ask yourself two questions; (1) what is the lesson on discipleship Jesus is trying to teach me and (2) how do I live it in my life. And please don’t forget to read the last page of text in the bulletin, TODAY’S READINGS, for an exegesis of the texts and reflection questions to help you focus.
God Bless,
Fr. Ron
