May
4, 2008
Who’s
in your top twelve?
More
Missing Leaders
Last week I wrote about the copper leaders that were stolen from the
exterior of the church. This week the school was hit with the same theft
and the church was hit again. Someone has been coming in the middle
of the night and pulling the leaders (the pipes that run from the gutters
to the rain catch basins) off the buildings to sell for scrap metal.
The police are aware of the problem, and I mention this so everyone
has a heightened sense of alert. Please report any suspicious activity.
One
Step Closer
This past week we met with lawyers to take a closer step toward renting
the convent building. Since we’re in negotiations, I can’t
say more than: “things are looking very good.” Please continue
to pray for a quick and successful outcome to the negotiations. I hope
to be able to report a firm lease proposal in the near future.
e-mail Father Ralph:
Past
Columns:
April 27: Now
that he's gone...
April 20: Yay
Deacons!
April
13: Here comes the Pope
April 6: Fresh Oil
March 30: What are you 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 January
20: Being Safer
January 13: Conversations
in 2008
January 6: Matthew's Magi
December 30:
What's
Next?
Christmas
2007 Homily
Columns
from 2007
Columns
from 2005
Columns
from 2004
Columns
from 2003
Columns from 2002
Obama.
Hillary. Benedict. Rudy. Oprah. Condoleeza....if anyone says the name
of these famous people, we immediately conjure up an image of who they
are. Now compare that list of famous people with these names that we hear
in the Acts of the Apostles today: Mary, Peter and John, James, Andrew,
Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon
the Zealot, Judas son of James.
These, of course, are Mary, the
mother of Jesus and Jesus’ apostles. And we certainly have images
that come to mind when we say the name of Mary or St. Peter. But if put
to the test, what do we really know about apostles such as “Simon
the Zealot” or “Judas, son of James” (who is NOT the
same as Judas Iscariot)?
Unfortunately, I suspect more people can name the seven dwarfs than can
name seven of the twelve apostles! (And think about it -- they know about
the personality of the dwarfs than they know about the apostles -- we
don’t know which apostle was “sleepy” or “grumpy”....)
Yet even though we don’t
know much about most of the apostles, we know they were astoundingly successful
in spreading the gospel. No one would have expected that the faith eleven
apostles could have spread to over a billion people today. But their fervor
and faith did indeed change the world.
Can YOU make a list of 12 people
who are examples of faith from your life? I suggest that you actually
do this on a piece of paper this week. Who do you know who brings the
good news of Jesus to people in your life? Who brought you to faith? Then
sit with the list and do three things:
(a) Thank God for each of those people
(b) Notice how they “did” their faith. What were some of the
things they said or did that brought Jesus to others?
(c) Copy them. Intentionally choose to do some things that they’ve
done; say some of the things they’ve said. Reach out to others who
need Jesus’ love and strength.
Who knows? One day you may be on a top twelve list!
