Dear Beloved Parishioners,
Just a few things before I head out in the morning for some R and R on the golf course.
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It has started…
In response to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Speaker Nancy Pelosi scheduled another House vote to try to enshrine abortion on demand in federal law through the so-called Women’s Health Protection Act, H.R. 8296. The House passed this bill on Friday. It is not the first, nor do I think it will be the last of ongoing attempts to codify Roe vs. Wade into our laws.
Think about that when you head to the polls on Aug. 2. Do a little research on the candidates who will best help us protect life, from conception to natural death.
And though I don’t have an ‘easy link’ with a pre-stated “Message” that you can click to send a message to our Senators, it might be a good job to pre-emptively tell them where you stand on protecting life, should the Senate vote on a similar bill. Here is the contact form for Senator Hawley.
https://www.hawley.senate.gov/contact-senator-hawley
And here is the contact form for Senator Blunt.
https://www.blunt.senate.gov/contact/contact-roy
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All Things New – is looking for some facilitators for the fall sessions in parishes. There are 5 training sessions involved. If you want to be a part of that, let me know asap…
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Jonathan Adams, a parishioner, caught me in the driveway of one of my communion calls with information about “Christ Feeds St. Louis -an Urban Farming Initiative”. The program is moving from concept to reality, hopefully by this coming spring. If you have an interest in gardening and/or helping to provide local, healthy food alternatives, then the full plan can be read as a PS at the end of the missive.
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The Deeper Dive into the Sunday Scriptures… comes to us from Fr. Frank DiSano and The Paulist Evangelization Ministries.
We don’t want to recall it, but we really can’t put it out of our minds for long. We don’t want to remember those endless months when we were basically stuck in our houses, unable to gather with anyone. No school. No church. No mass transportation. Shopping was as quick as we could do it. Empty offices, hotel rooms, restaurants. Covid ruled! . . . Yet we fear, don’t we, that it might all happen again?
You can’t be human without gathering, that’s what we learned. And you can’t gather without basic hospitality, the ability to greet and accept another. We often think of this as simple courtesy, which is fundamental, for sure. After all, we all know when we were not treated with courtesy—the time we were ignored at a party or even the time when received poor or no service because of who we were.
Our Scriptures, however, bring hospitality to an even greater level, beyond ordinary courtesy. In the first reading, we find Abraham responding to the three guests who come to him as an image of God, something very hard for Jewish people to express. Because of his generous hospitality, a new nation will come about. God will give Abraham and the Jewish people a destiny. Abraham entertained the angels of God, in these strangers, without knowing it.
In the Gospel, even though Jesus seems to push back against Martha’s pushiness, the importance of hospitality is not lessened. Without hospitality, no one would be gathering to visit with and hear Jesus in the first place. In fact, the Gospel aims to us what hospitality is all about: the ability to sit with Jesus and be his disciple in a welcoming and accepting way. Because encountering another is encountering God who becomes present to us in and through the other.
What does the second reading say: God’s glory has been manifested to us, chosen as we have been by God, because Jesus has revealed himself to us. How does Jesus reveal himself? Well, we think of the Scriptures, and we think of sacraments, and we think of people who have taught us. But the Scriptures are saying that Jesus is manifested to us through others, through the people we encounter, and especially through the poor and needy. Perhaps this surprises us, but it is the unbroken lesson of our faith: we reveal Christ to each other because Christ lives in us.
This is why gathering as a Church is so important. Just coming to church is saying that God is not some private event in my head. Rather, God is revealed in our community and in our common faith. The sacred meal we celebrate shows what our gatherings mean: the bread becomes Christ’s Body even as we become Christ’s body. Christ continues his incarnation in us.
I know others can be a problem. I see that every time I drive my car. But others are the way God begins to stretch us out of our self-absorption. And that stretch is big enough to include even the encounter of God.
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The Song of the Day:
Since I will putting about 1700 miles of windshield time, here is a classic ‘traveling song’ by Simon and Garfunkel.
blessings,
fr bill
PS – Here is the full information on #Christ Feeds St. Louis.
Mission:
Develop palletized raised beds or planter bags to distribute ‘mini farms’ throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area with the assistance of the Knights of Columbus. The program will provide fresh organic food for the poor and also provide produce to facilitate donations from the local community looking to purchase better quality than what is found in local stores. The approach of this mission is to demonstrate a Christian focus using time and talent to acquire treasure in the form of healthy food or donations as trade.
Plan Details:
Raised beds will be constructed from used or discarded shipping pallets. Only heat-treated pallets will be used to avoid any chemical contamination to the crops. The pallets will be broken down and reassembled using all serviceable wood into an approximate 40” x 40”x 20”(H) configuration unless a different configuration is required.
As an alternate to the wooden raised beds, “Grow Bags” or “Bag Beds” could be used. Though the bags would need to be purchased, the cost would be minimal and the smaller units could be transported and distributed by hand even after being planted. This type of unit could be implemented much more quickly as these bags are readily available through online retailers and home improvement stores. Alterations or adaptations to the beds to control pests or produce better crops are welcome. Planting units will remain configured as semi-mobile units for ease of movement or relocation. This will allow each planter to be moved as crop demands change or demands of the host facility change. This will also allow the planters to be established as turn-key units and donated to ‘communities of need’. Each planter will be isolated to only one type of crop. Alternate methods to growing plants are welcome. Specialty crops to include herbs are encouraged. Selection of plantings is completely up to the designated host community or individual(s) providing care of the raised beds. Anything required for planting can be donated. Items required may include seeds, fertilizer, new or used soil, sand, perlite, soil amendments or compost used for planting. Even used linens, that would otherwise be unserviceable for regular donations, could be used as a soil containment barrier inside the wooden raised bed units.
The hope is to use a majority of materials that would otherwise be discarded and acquire materials primarily through sweat equity or donations. The need for talented individuals to build and service units, share gardening expertise and promote this farming initiative is paramount.
Our efforts are complementary and unique to food drives but any food pantries that accept fresh produce will be utilized. Regardless, our hope is God will provide so much, we will have no other alternative than to share with our own immediate friends and families and the religious of our Church. Discovering ways to store excess past the growing season is also welcome.
This program will be promoted on social media by using the hashtag #ChristFeedsStLouis, marking “farm” locations on Google maps, posting videos and networking with fellow #ChristFeedsStLouis contributors and supporters. Each planter will be equipped with a sign or stencil using the hashtag #ChristFeedsSt.Louis. We welcome individuals that already have established gardens in our community that want to contribute but do not know what to do with excess.
Conclusion:
If you have been paying attention to current events, the need for basic unprocessed food is rising and the need for all food has never been greater. This program will be completely grass roots driven and will require little to no outside funding to run the program. The program will be promoted simply by church members and fellow citizens in our community willing to assist us.
The produce we grow will either be given to the poor or used to drive donations for the host parish/church. We anticipate many people in our city desire NON-GMO food with limited to no type of pesticides and should be more than happy in providing a donation in exchange.
The program will be active all 12 months of the year and will require different talents of many different people. We will be determining site locations, building/planting units, delivering units, composting, planting, maintaining crops, harvesting, and distributing food. There is something for everyone in every season.
Remember that through this program, God provides not only food but also provides opportunities to share our faith during our work with God’s harvest.
If successful, we would love nothing more than to see similar hashtags for sister programs throughout America.
Jonathan Adams is the Point of Contact for this program and will help in any way to facilitate the distribution and implementation of as many raised beds as demand requires. Jonathan can be reached at jadams@discoverstl.com or at 314-368-3380.
God Bless.