One of the blessings of giving parish missions around the country is seeing how the Holy Spirit is at work in different ways in different parishes. Here at St. Dominic Savio Parish near St. Louis, Missouri, there is a very active St. Vincent de Paul Society. They have a small yellow school bus with which they go around to various restaurants and bread thrift shops to pick up food before it's discarded. Then they take it to food pantries around the area. They do this five out of seven days a week! It's truly a work of mercy and an example of the following description from the parish web site: "Our parishioners are living examples of true Christian love. They are supportive of each other, reach out to each other and work together to fulfill the gospel mandate of Jesus Christ." I would add: And they reach out to those in need beyond the parish community. At Mass this morning I quoted a slogan I saw some years ago: "If it were against the law to be a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" There's plenty of evidence here at St. Dominic Savio's.
This is why my family joined SD Savio last July. It is such a full catholic church experience. Plus the music is great! Fr. Kubicki, thank you for your missionary work. The theme of transformation and the doctrine on divinization is one that has fascinated me for quite a long time. Reciprocity in our relationship with God is a great subject to mine. God is awesome when we give him a chance to work in our lives. Could you talk more about the "nuclear fission" metaphor you spoke of last evening? Thank you and God Bless You!
ReplyDeleteGood idea to say more about this. Here is the link to the entire homily that Pope Benedict gave at the closing Mass for World Youth Day 05 in Cologne: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050821_20th-world-youth-day_en.html
ReplyDeleteThat is where the "nuclear fission" metaphor comes from. I'm not a physicist so I'm not sure what "nuclear fission" actually means. I'll do some research and some reflecting and blog about this in the future.
Thank you Fr. Kubicki. I will read it.
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