Greetings in Christ, all! I need to start this article off by begging… We are in serious need of catechists for our religious education program. We weren’t able to secure any teachers so far for the following grades: 1st, 3rd, 4th and 6th. Please consider stepping forward and offering help to Our Parish Family. You might feel like you aren’t qualified, but I can assure you that you probably are not and that is the best thing possible. You can step-by-step learn some of the wonderful things of our faith that you missed and share them with Our Kids. I have had many parishioners in many parishes who found teaching catechism to be one of the best ways to grow in their own faith. Please help us out if you can.
I’m typing this on Wednesday, August 21st. Tomorrow, I will hear from the surgeon about my knee. I’ll keep you all updated.
I want to point out our Power House Saint Duo this week: On Tuesday, August 27th, we celebrate St. Monica and on Wednesday, August 28th, we celebrate her son, St. Augustine. For those who don’t know, St. Augustine was a bit of a moral trainwreck, who wasted 30+ years of his life in debauchery. His Mother prayed for him every day and never gave up hope for him to repent and become Christian. St. Augustine gave his heart to the Lord and is now the most quoted Saint in our catechism. His writings are vital to our faith as he wrestled so lovingly to find and live the truth. I just love his honesty about his struggles and his hope in Jesus. As an interesting note, he is considered to be the first person to write an autobiography. He wrote his life story in a book called “The Confessions” and referred to himself in the first person. No one that we know of has done that before.
I will close with my favorite quotation from that book. It’s something he wrote shortly after he gave his life to Jesus. I pray you enjoy it and draw the same kind of strength and joy from it that I do:
Late have I loved you, O Beauty so ancient, O Beauty so new.
Late have I loved you!
You were within me but I was outside myself,
and there I sought you.
In my weakness, I ran after the beauty of the things
you have made.
You were with me, but I was not with you.
You called, you cried, and you pierced my deafness.
You shined forth, shined brightly, and dispelled my
blindness.
You sent forth your fragrance, I breathed it in,
and now I long for you.
I have tasted you, and I hunger and thirst for you more.
You have touched me, and I crave your peace.