Dear Lord God, You alone are the source of every good gift and the mystery of each human life. We thank you for creation and for your tender, faithful love. Fill our minds with the Gospel of your son Jesus and fill our hearts with his compassion. Send your Spirit to grant us wisdom, that our gratitude may bind us together into a community of faith and a caring people. Give us the courage to express ourgratitude first as we discern how to be good stewards of the gifts entrusted to us, that we may do the work for your Kingdom. In your son’s name we pray, Amen!
The St. Therese Stewardship Corner shares weekly stories and reflections on how our parishioners are sharing their gifts.
You can’t always tell from the outside what people are dealing with on the inside. Our inner journey is a lot more private, a lot more personal. . . . Whenever you’re down, for whatever reason it is, there needs to be a glimpse of hope, a glimpse of life, that is refreshed in us by those around us, who care for us.
Last month we received a donation in memory of Archbishop Hunthausen. I think the Archbishop was a lamb of God for his holiness, his gentleness, the way his lived The Way and for his treatment by the Vatican. The donors wrote the following memorial:
Allison Chappell’s funeral was held at St Therese on December 23, the morning that the city was covered in ice. Allison had taken her own life a month earlier. Deacon Greg talked about his own battles with depression and how even when depressed, he put on a performance when awake. “You can’t always tell from the outside what people are dealing with on the inside,” he said.
Editor’s note: Allison Chappell grew up at St Therese where her parents and grandparents were parishioners, went nine years to our school, served as a CYO camp counselor and became a school counselor. She fell into a serious depression about the time COVID hit and took her own life last November. Her tragedy has left many people deeply shaken. This eulogy is by Jim Valiere, a former teacher and administrator at St. Therese School. Many of us will spend the rest of our lives trying to process this grief.
We, Angels and Mortals, Believers and Non-Believers, Look heavenward and speak the word aloud. Peace. We look at our world and speak the word aloud. Peace. We look at each other, then into ourselves. And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation. Peace, My Brother. Peace, My Sister. Peace, My Soul.
By their faith, God took the form of a human, challenged religious authority, and brought the sins of humanity down upon himself. The God who is love came for all the world.
What are the signs of our times? We are enduring a fresh outbreak of racism and antisemitism, of belief in incredible conspiracies. Our churches are turning gray as the past few generations believe in the Judeo-Christian ethic but not in the institutional Church.