July 23, 2017

I.  Another Thank You! Last week I received a letter from Virginia Braswell, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity in Owensboro, acknowledging our recent donation of $2,000, and thanking us our needed support. Our goal and commitment this past year was to contribute $3,000 to this ecumenical outreach. Thanks to your generosity, we made it! A heartfelt gratitude also to those parishioners who helped in the actual building of Habitat houses. If you are interested in working on a Habitat house, please contact Mark Heinz, who coordinates this ministry for our Social Concerns Committee.

II. “Self-pity is a slimy bottomless pit. Once you fall in, you tend to go deeper and deeper into the mire. As you slide down the slippery walls, you are well on your way to depression, and the darkness is profound.

Your only hope is to look up and see the Light of My Presence shining down on you. Though the Light looks dim from your perspective, deep in the pit, those rays of hope can reach you at any depth. When you focus on Me in trust, you rise ever so slowly out of the abyss of despair. Finally, you can reach up and grasp My hand. I will pull you out into the Light again. I would gently cleanse you, washing off the clinging Mire. I will cover you with My righteousness and walk with you down the path of life. (Read Psalm 40:2-3)

Psalm 42:5–“Why are you in despair, oh my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His Presence”. (from “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young)

III. Laudate App is everything a Catholic would hope for in an app, and more. It has Scripture readings and Saints of the day, Bible, our Catechism, Documents of Vatican II, Mysteries of the Rosary and how to pray it, Stations of the Cross, a very thorough Examination of Conscience, and much more! Laudate is Latin for “let us praise” [God].

IV.  (A poem response to the prophet Jeremiah)

I didn’t choose this role: no kudos there! Rather I was chosen: not allowed to escape.

It needed oceans of grace: certainly, I’ve used up more than you can comprehend to bring me here!

Agonizing, always wanting to be of the people–finally, recognizing I am a voice for the people.

For, who will speak for the lambs? Who will cast away karma and timidity as unworthy refuges for the power within?

As long as I stay there, I’ll be alright–not trying to become a voice over the people.

The lesson is: Never give up hope! As a voice for the people I’ve become of the people!

(Garth M. Stratton, from “On the Road to Jerusalem: A Spiritual Journey in Poetry”)