From the Corner Office for Sept. 11, 2022

From the Corner Office is Father Mike's weekly bulletin column.

The Twentieth-Forth Sunday of Ordinary Time moves forward with Jesus traveling towards Jerusalem, and ourselves pointed towards heaven… After last week’s readings concerning the reasons of the activities of God, the hinge of St. Paul in his letter connecting us to the (very) raw lesson of Jesus inviting us to follow him – only after giving up all of our possessions… That was a tough week, but there is a reprieve this week, as we see God’s great mercy. So often we talk about the details, and every one of us can appreciate the need to “Look at the details!” either in cooking, building something for the house, or just maintaining a parish campus.

The First Reading has Moses challenging God, when the Israelites are “acting out”. Moses questions God on why he would want to wipe out “…your own people…” This simple detail of turning the question to God saves them and shows God’s mercy. St. Paul even continues to tell Timothy and the others of the abundant graces and how Jesus came into the world to save us all! The parables of the Gospel reading shows us all the mercy of God. But (again) look at the details… The lost sheep ends up being found and on the shepherd’s shoulders, the lady calls her friends when the coin is found, and the elderly father – runs out to greet his “wandering child”. Let’s take a much needed pause this week and listen and take in the abundant mercy andlove of our God.

Fr. Mike

From the Pastor’s Desk:

The school year and the CYO Sports season are both off to a great start. It would be something to thank both the school and sports communities for all that do – in a separate “Thanks YOU!” But since we are looking at both these parts of the parish working together, we can thank both of them together. It’s my thought that the school should complement the sports program, and the sports program compliment the school. Very-veryimportant lessons are learned in the classroom and the field/court. SOooo, please thank not only all the administration, teachers, directors, and coaches – but also the aids, support staff, drivers to practice, door watchers, and field stripers and “yes, everything else that needs to get done” people. You are all in very important roles for the parish of St. Thomas More, but more importantly – the lives of our children and their future! Thank you all, from myself and the parish of St. Thomas More!

Special News Note:

Yes, there are issues with the church air conditioning unit (one died already), organ, roof, and (…fill in the blank…) as we all know too well. Please be assured though that we are working with the maintenance crew and the contractors on how to best deal with everything. I will be talking with the finance council soon on the priority list and available funds. I have also been in contact with the Diocese Facilities Services department on our situations. The underlying challenge is the approach to the maintenance in the past for the physical plant and financial support. We are moving forward in correcting the challenges. My hope is still to have a “town hall” style meeting once we have the year-end financial report approved by the Diocese. We will discuss more about the challenges at that time, or you can always see me on the sidewalk. Thank you for your patience and understanding on these challenges.