April
27, 2007
Now
that he’s gone...
Getting
New Leaders
About a week ago, the copper leaders on the church were stolen in the
middle of the night. (The leaders are the pipes that run from the roof
gutters into the ground.) Due to the price of metal, these leaders are
valuable as scrap metal and there have been a rash of thefts in Nassau
County. We’re working with the police, the insurance company,
and local recyclers (just in case our leaders show up).
So if you’re driving by the church late at night and see anyone
pulling down leaders or gutters from the church, please call the police
right away.
(By the way, we ARE going to have roof work done on the rectory, so
please don’t call the police when the roofers are here!)
In closing, while I’m sad (and frustrated) that someone would
steal our copper leaders, I’m glad we still have our parish leaders
who are good as gold!
e-mail Father Ralph:
Past
Columns:
April 20: Yay
Deacons!
April 13: Here
comes the Pope
April 6: Fresh Oil
March 30: What are your
doing for Easter?
March 23: Can Easter come
too early?
March 16: Which crowd is
yours?
March 9: We believe, yet...
March 2: Oil or Mud
February 24: What are you
thirsting for?
February 17: Who are You
Wearing?
February 10: Just Say No
February 3: The Power of
the Cross
January 27: How I Turned
Out
January 20: Being Safer
January 13: Conversations
in 2008
January 6: Matthew's Magi
December 30: Matthew's
Magi
Christmas 2007
Homily
Columns from 2007
Columns
from 2005
Columns
from 2004
Columns
from 2003
Columns from 2002
Pope
Benedict has come and gone. The press was very positive about his visit
-- at its best, the media proclaimed what is good about the Catholic church,
and at its least they proclaimed his visit “not as bad as we thought
it would be.” I think they were expecting a stern pope who was going
to scold Americans in some way. And as he boarded the plane to return
to Rome, some summarized the visit as if he was our grandfather who came
to say ‘hi’ to the grandkids.
I was struck by his obvious admiration
for the goodness of America. In a world where some look upon Americans
as selfish, bullying, and distrespectful of others, Pope Benedict praised
the freedoms of our nation, our “genuinely religious spirit,”
and he said he was convinced that God was preparing a "new springtime"
for the church in the United States.
He didn’t shy away from the
hard issues -- he gave particulatr attention to the abuse of young people
which was badly handled by church leaders. He challenged people to embrace
truth, the whole truth and not just part of it. (And note that he said
that the truth was a person -- Jesus!) And he talked to young people about
the responsibilties that come with freedom.
What I’m wondering about is what difference his visit will make--
not just what difference will it make to America, but how will his visit
affect him? I would have liked to have been on the plane on the way home
to listen to what impressed him, what touched his heart, who he met that
inspired or moved him.
I pray for Pope Benedict as he
returns home, that his experience here will give him more hope about the
future of the faith in America, that he will know that we appreciated
his being with us these few days, that he will keep a two-way conversation
going across the Atlantic.
And we ought to reflect more on what he urged us: “Perhaps we have
lost sight of this: In a society where the church seems legalistic and
'institutional' to many people, our most urgent challenge is to communicate
the joy born of faith and the experience of God's love."
