A Letter from Fr. Paul - September 18, 2016

We are changing our system of sending e-mails to one that is easier to manage, but more importantly it follows all email-related laws, that is, people have asked to be on the list and can unsubscribe when they choose. Please sign-up to be on our email list so that you will continue to receive information from Pius after the beginning of October.

The new person walking around the altar is Salvatorian Michael Neeland, who was ordained a transitional deacon here at Pius two Sundays ago (“transitional” means he will be ordained a priest next year). Please welcome him. Michael will be preaching every other weekend and a number of parishioners have agreed to give feedback on his preaching. This feedback will be given to his instructor at Sacred Heart School of Theology and will be very helpful for Michael to hone his preaching skills. I have asked Michael to prepare a short biography to introduce himself for the next Invitation. He will be involved in other activities, as his school schedule allows. Please welcome Michael to our community.

Many of you will remember Salvatorian sister Liza Segleau who was instrumental in beginning health ministry and our prayer group, who lobbied for our hearing loop, and who took care of our web page. She has been in Colombia preparing to begin a mission in Guatemala with Salvatorian sisters from Colombia and Brazil. They join Salvatorians (religious men and lay) from Spain who have been in Guatemala since 2002. Now the whole Salvatorian Family is present! I promised Sr. Liza that we would accompany her in prayer.

As has been announced in our bulletin, we are in the process of collecting the funds to buy new hymnals. I ask you to consider covering the cost of one or more in memory of loved ones. For more information please pick up a form in the back of church or call the parish office.

Our readings this weekend take on one of the biggest problems in our consumeristic society: greed. In the first reading Amos lists a number of practices used by the rich to cheat the poor and ends with these ominous words: The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: never will I forget a thing they have done! And our Gospel ends with these words: No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon. The unfortunate reality is that the “needs” of those who already have an abundance often continue to grow while the poor get poorer. A stark example of this was the huge salary increase given to the CEO of a company as the price of a life-saving drug skyrocketed.

This is not Gospel living and ultimately each person will stand before the Lord who will say, When I was hungry… We all have the responsibility to work in any way possible that each person has what is necessary for a decent life. I invite us this week to take some time to reflect on our role in our consumeristic society. Do I buy and use what I NEED or do I go for what I WANT? Do I remember that there are those much less fortunate than I and find ways to share my wealth? When I was hungry…