From the Pastor's Pen -The Whole Shebang

THE WHOLE SHEBANG-- That’s a book title I’ll explain in a moment. The Sunday gospels for 3 weeks now have been about The Vineyard. So I used that as an image of a concise statement, written on a PostIt note, of God’s concerns. But that one word conveys all that God’s concerned about: the eternity of heaven, the temporal world down here, all people, all the land and seas—there’s nothing outside of the passionate concern of God for life and wellbeing, as He created it all and nurtures it. Trying to present this broad scope, I realized later that I’ve never done a homily before that included a call to Prayer, to Justice dialogues, and to recycling. The Whole Shebang is the title of a great book I have on cosmology, the structure of the universe in galaxies and beyond. It’s a good title for the scope of God’s concern.

On the Justice Dialogues, we’ve partnered with a St. Louis parish, St. Elizabeth Mother of John the Baptist, to share speakers and dialogues on matters of justice in the church and our world. We all have a stake in these issues. Please consider taking part in one of these sessions, here or there.

We also had a great conversation Saturday with members of the Lutheran Church of the Living Christ, on the Eucharist and other doctrinal matters where we have agreements, and some differences too. It was a joy to share with them, to see their receptivity to the ongoing dialogue, and to have them at the 5pm Mass.

The Mens ACTS retreat starts this Thursday. I’ll be away with them till Sunday morning. Pray for them, and consider joining them, Men! This is our 4th year of ACTS retreats, and we’re feeling strong effects from it.

Last month, I was honored to give the invocation at Mayor Schneider’s Senior Citizen Town Hall Meeting. The text of my prayer is on a following page. I hope it might be good for you to use occasionally if that’s your state in life.