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 Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Happy Labor Day Weekend! I have always loved this
holiday. It’s time for one more cookout, one more glass of
lemonade, and one more trip to the State Park. This is our last
blast of summer for awhile. Let’s make the most out of this long
weekend. Both our Parish and School offices are closed tomorrow,
September 1st,
for the holiday. Daily Mass tomorrow morning is at 9:00 AM on our
summer holiday schedule.
On this Labor Day 2008, we call to mind all of the work
that we are doing. These are wild days. There is so much going on
for all of us. The state of the economy has made just about
everything a little more stressful for all of us. Our families are
busy. We are not spending the time that we should on our marriages
and other relationships. There is so much to do at every moment of
every day. Something that I am hearing more and more from good
people is that they don’t have time to pray. What a scary statement
that is! If you’re too busy to pray, then you are quite simple too
busy and it’s probably time to do some simplifying in your life.
For far too many of us, when we get busy, the first thing to go from
our busy schedule is our Adoration time, or our Mass time, or our
reading the Bible time, or the time that we donate in service to
others, especially here at our Parish family. It is way too easy
for all of us to get into that self-preservation mode where all we
can think about taking of is ourselves. And that’s not a good place
to be. Falling into that trap leads to selfishness and
isolationism, and ultimately, to an even greater loneliness. This
is happening to so many of us, that it is crippling our society
today. Now, more than ever, we need to set-aside time to pray. If
you’re not doing it, you aren’t going to be able to stay a Catholic
Christian very long. It is that big of a deal!
This weekend, I again call on all members of St. Maria
Goretti, to get an hour of Adoration every week. I cannot tell you
how important that this is. Setting aside that one hour a week for
God, does amazing things for the rest of your week and the rest of
your schedule. If you already have an assigned hour, please
re-commit yourself to getting there every week. You need it more
than you think. If you don’t have an Adoration hour yet, what are
you waiting for? It’s time. It’s past time actually for you to
step up and take an hour of Adoration to our prayer vigil going in
our Adoration Chapel. Carol Alvarez tells me that once again we
have a couple of hours during the week open, with no one signed up.
This should never happen at a parish the size of St. Maria Goretti!
Look at your schedule. Find one hour that you can come in and pray
before our Lord. You won’t regret it. And you will be surprised at
how it helps make sense out of all the other crazy hours in your
life. Give Carol a call at 843-2530 to find out when you are needed
or to schedule an hour that works on your calendar. We need to all
get in that Chapel more! The world is too crazy for us not too!
Not sure what to do in Adoration? Well, there’s another
awesome opportunity for prayer that takes place every Tuesday
afternoon at 2:00 PM in the Adoration Chapel, and that is our Marian
Movement for Priests. Pat Manley has generously agreed to help us
get this beautiful prayer movement started here at St. Maria
Goretti. We chose 2:00 PM so that car-pooling moms could come in a
little early before picking up the kids after school, and pray with
this powerful movement. Pat tells me it’s been pretty quiet and
pretty empty in there on Tuesday afternoons. Why not stop by? Even
if you’re not picking kids up, you can still come in and pray, just
make sure that you park in the south parking lot.
The reality is that we all need to become better at
prayer. It really is what is going to save us in the middle of this
crazy world that we live in. How’s your prayer life? What are you
doing to make it better?
We’re still looking for both men and women to attend this
fall’s Christ Renews His Parish weekends. Is this your time?
Think and pray about it. We’re looking for you!
Next weekend, PRE starts up again. Let us keep all of our
catechists and students in our prayers this week for a really
awesome new year! Have a great long weekend and a wonderful week!
In Christ,
Fr. Kevin
To ignore the facts does not change the facts.
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