Dear Friends,
Thanks so much for the wonderful work done by so many of you in preparing for and executing the Spaghetti Dinner last Sunday. Our attendance numbers were lower (as expected) because of Covid19, but we still did a huge amount of takeout dinners and had a steady group for the sit-down dinners. Everyone’s generous gift of time and energy made it possible. Special thanks to Amanda and Christen who do all the tough work of making sure everything gets organized and that there are sufficient workers in each area.
The Spaghetti Dinner is a wonderful project because it is pure gift to help All Saints School and the students who attend there. This is not a fundraising event for our own parish. It is not done for us. It is done to help the school pay its bills and provide a fine education to many children and their families who could not otherwise afford it. It is also a special opportunity to form community in the parish as we work side by side, meeting new parishioners and reconnecting with relationships of old. Thanks to all our helpers, young and old, for making it a successful event!!!
Now, on to other spiritual reflections. Whether we know it or not, understand it or not, we are always being formed by the culture that surrounds us. We are being highly manipulated by the value systems of the world, by social media and the people with whom we associate. This is happening now more than ever before because of the nature of AI and algorithms that decide what we like and then send more and more of the same messages to us on our media accounts. The value system of the world determines our worth based on our accomplishments, possessions, efficiency, intellectual ability and social status. One of the new stresses in our postmodern world is that for most of us our thinking has become very shallow, we no longer have the desire to dive deep, we simply skim everything. We can have a two-minute conversation on almost anything, but we may struggle to have an hour conversation on the most important matters in our life.
What Jesus teaches his disciples works directly against this shallow way of being. This may be the reason why many people are abandoning what Jesus teaches. They just want Jesus to be like everything else – just keep Jesus on the surface of my life and do not ask me to make any changes. These folks will follow Jesus only if his teaching matches what they already believe and do.
There is no simple solution to working against the ways of our culture and to living as a disciple of Jesus in this world of ours. Working against the culture means being intentional about living a different way. Being a disciple of Jesus requires us to be a people who cultivate lives with God in prayer, move toward reconciliation with others, work for justice, give generously of time and treasure, and follow the truth of what Jesus teaches. Being a disciple means that we are in love with God. Being in love demands more than a surface relationship. The first thing it demands is a bit of your time.
N.T. Wright, a scripture scholar, says that “it is only when we slow down our lives that we can catch up to God.” That may seem like a paradox and it is. God has all the time in the world. God does not rush, does not run. God is concerned about the depth of being not the speed in which we get there. Our long monastic tradition in the Catholic Church proclaims that message to us over and over again. It is only when we can sit quietly with God and listen to God’s quiet voice deep within us will we choose the right path to walk.
As the seasons change around us, as leaves fall and the weather grows chilly, may we find some quiet moments in our week to be with God and to listen to the one who loves us.
Peace,
Fr. Damian