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Thank for your generosity towards the people of Haiti, supporting the ongoing outreach of Catholic Relief Service in that country. Our donations, alongside that of other parishes in our diocese, will eventually go directly towards the efforts of CRS workers who are attempting to bring some light of hope to so many individuals and families whose conditions are so meager. You may bring any donation to the office after the weekend to be included in the collection. With the raging fires in the western states, the devastation to the gulf states, extreme flooding in Tennessee, we may forget our blessings of security we enjoy in the rural land of the Midwest. Again, thank you.
Labor Day always marked the official end of summer vacation though the beginning of Autumn is three weeks removed. Some take in a brief get away this three day weekend, while many stay at home and simply enjoy a more relaxful time with family or friends, or finishing up needed projects around their home. May we remember those who do not have the privilege to work for a meaningful livelihood in support of their families and homes: the disabled, those struggling with depression or mental setbacks, those who are hospitalized, those who have no skills, those who have served time, and those who have been derived of a nurturing upbringing. Whatever the sacrifices we take upon ourselves in our labors/employment, whatever our wages or responsibilities or position in the work we perform, we do have the opportunity—through our personal integrity—to strive to find the ultimate meaning of our efforts as defined by St. Francis.
“He who works with his hands is a laborer.
He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.
He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.”
I have been privileged over the years, offering Communion to those whose hands are creased with dirt or oil from their labors, those whose hands are crippled with arthritis from years of manual work, those whose hands carefully caress their infant child, those whose hands delicately perform health care for others, and those whose hands carry the burden of the sacrifices demanded of their livelihood. Never will I forget the hands of an old shoe cobbler who reached out his hands—wrinkled, arthritic—to receive the Body of Christ for the first time in years. Hopefully, each of us regardless of our respective work, responsibilities, position, may find a brief presence of peace and graciousness this Labor Day weekend with Christ’s words of invitation: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. . . .for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (MT 11:28-29)
St. John, St. Malachy and Sacred Heart communities reflect a welcoming spirit to those who come through our doors. While we continue to respect and uphold the physical health and wellbeing of all those present for the Eucharist in our churches may we heed the words of the letter from our second reading this weekend (James 2:1-5):
My brothers and sisters, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith. . . .For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here, please, ” while you say to the poor one, “Stand there,”have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges.
God Bless, Fr. Tim
FYI: When summer opens, I see how fast it matures, and fear it will be short; but after the heats of July and August, I am reconciled, like one who has had his swing, to the cool of autumn.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
