THE BLESSING OF PETS on Monday was marvelous, and great fun. Brought up by school families and other parishioners, most of the critters were dogs, of course, with a few rabbits, guinea pigs and pictures of some pets not transportable. Dogs amaze me—we had some that could almost fit in my hand, or forearm, and one the size of a small pony. And they are all the same species! I was glad to recognize them. They were very well behaved, and they are wonderful companions, who bring joy.
Last weekend we had the wonderful Stewardship witness by Allen and Rebecca Ernst. They shared simply and quite convincingly about trusting God in accepting each of their four children, and offer- ing their time and talent in other ways, and their treasure too. All I ask you to do now is fill out your Covenant Card which arrived in the mail this week (in case yours didn’t please call). Many will have it ready for Mass this weekend. If you don’t yet, just take a few moments to pray over this and indicate how, if possible, you could offer a bit of time in a ministry here; and evaluate your Offertory Gift in light of the times of your life and how God’s been to you. Bring it to the Parish Office, or include it in the Offertory Basket next week.
October is a month to reflect on and commit to the protection of Life at all stages. We’ve now had two public events outside to witness to our values. I’ll include reflection on respecting life in the homilies this weekend. Please make sure you do a little reflecting on it, and use materials you may have or that are provided in the bulletin.
Elsewhere here you can see pictures of the PSR Mass last Wed. (Sept. 29). It was a lot of fun, and work also to be in “teaching mode” for a prayer experience. I used the big dog over my shoulder to highlight faith in angels, and God, whom we don’t always see. I also recently used my little lion friend I’d used at VBS, in the 3 and 4 year old classrooms, and we had a great time. Like the dogs above, these creatures help me relate to our smaller parishioners.