Those who are blessed to spend at least one hour a week in our Perpetual Eucharistic Chapel speaking to the Lord, listening to Him, and/or growing in relationship with Him through spiritual reading, are regular recipients through their e-mail address of meditations that are called "Breakfast Food for the Soul."  The one I received this past Monday sounds like the Lord Himself encouraging everyone to come to Him to be refreshed and nourished.  While I believe this is a perfect invitation for those who are currently not a regular Adorer or substitute, to join us in this blessed activity, I believe it has something for what the Lord and only the Lord can satisfy.  I would like to give the rest of my column this week to this invitation.  Those who are drawn through this invitation to Eucharistic Adoration in our chapel, are encouraged to call Mike Kerwin at 922-1531 to find an hour each week that works for you.  I ask everyone to read this in a place of quiet, praying first for the grace needed to respond to what is said to you by the Lord.

BREAKFAST FOOD FOR THE SOUL

Before the end of day, Lord
help me make the time
and lead me to a place
where You might still the waters of my life,
calm my fear
and give me rest 
in the peace that's only Yours to give. . .

Be the still point of my spinning world,
the center of my heart,
the place wherein I find that peace
where I find You and know
that You've found me. . .

In chaos and in calm,
in rage and in relief,
in turmoil and tranquility:
make your dwelling place within me,
Your home within my heart
at the center of my being. . .

Help me make the time
and lead me to a place
where I might swim the waters of your mercy,
refreshed by peace in mind and heart,
restored by Your good grace. . .

Today, Lord, gently touch
the trouble waters of my life
and still them with a calm
that settles deep within my soul. . .

Amen.


A Concord Pastor

In case you weren't at Mass this past weekend at Sacred Heart Church, you may not know that I announced that our parish, as of August 21st is blessed to have a new employee, Cathy Silk, who will serve as a "Pastoral Associate," focusing on the "Parish Life" ministry at Sacred Heart Church.  Cathy and her husband Jeff (who is a sheriff's deputy in Saline County) have been active members of our parish for around two years.  Cathy has served for over a year in the area of Parish Life and has been a Parish Life representative on the Pastoral Council.  As a volunteer, she has given many hours to planning, organizing and seeing through a number of large activities including our marriage anniversary reception (in February), the reception for Deacon Nelson after his ordination to the diaconate last December, and receptions to say farewell to Deacon Bernie and Marilyn and the one following the Memorial Mass for Monsignor Malone. Her efforts have been commendable in these instances and in behind-the-scenes work in other happenings in the parish. It is hard to ask a volunteer to do so much so often, so the decision was made to hire Cathy and let her continue to work on these kind of activities, as well as other areas that need more attention than they are now receiving.  I believe Cathy will be offering new opportunities for our parishioners (and others) to gather for fellowship and to hear speakers who make presentations that will hopefully appeal to many.  I am hoping that Sacred Heart can, through Cathy's leadership, connect our parish and parishioners even more with the larger community here in the Village - and maybe beyond, as we seek to be witnesses of who we are and what we believe to the world outside of our parish.

Cathy has much enthusiasm and drive to get things done and recruit others to help.  She and her husband, Jeff, have four adult children, one of whom, Sarah, lives in the Village and is a member of our parish, along with her two-year-old Abbi.  Please welcome Cathy in this new position and don't hesitate to share your ideas with her.

In the world of professional sports there is always excitement in a city that accepts a team that they can support and encourage to do well, and hopefully, win a championship in that sport.  The excitement of winning a championship after much effort and perhaps years of waiting, will usually be over-the-top for some true fans of that team.  There was, no doubt, much excitement last Sunday at the 10:00 a.m. Mass when Jonathan Semmler made a commitment to be a seminarian for the Diocese of Little Rock with Behop Taylor presiding at Mass and Monsignor Friend being present to affirm the diocese's decision to accept Jonathan as a seminarian.  I wish every parishioner could have been present to witness this happening and the joy that was felt by Jonathan, his family, and his parish family.  Of course, unlike a professional football team's fan base that never knows when or if they will ever experience the joy of their team winning a championship, our parishioners can anticipate that, in about seven or eight years, we will experience tremendous excitement and joy when Jonathan is ordained a preist.  I honestly should have used the words "can anticipate" when it comes to Jonathan's ordination.  We cannot say for certain that he will be ordained a priest in the future.  The years ahead will be a time of formation, ministry, and discernment for Jonathan, and I'm sure most, if not all of us, hope and pray that it will reach the point where he and the bishop decide he is ready for his ordination to the priesthood.  In the future, he will continue to need,  and I'm confident will receive, the support and enouragement of our parishioners and others.  If, however, he and/or the dioese decides at some point that preisthood is not God's calling for his future life, I (and hope many of you who know Jonathan) am confident that he will be open to God using him in a way or ways that will be a blessing to the Church and to others.  I say this, not to throw cold water on anyone's enthusiasm about Jonathan being the first "native born" parishioner of Sacred Heart to be a seminarian (and maybe one day a priest), but rather to be realistic that just as a city getting a professional team to back, does not know with any certainty that they will, at some point, win a championship; so the journey to priesthood that many start (especially those who are young like Jonathan) does not always end in ordination to the pristhood.  I have been surprised over the years at how many men I have met who once were seminarians, and did not finish and become priest, but rather became successful in their careers, good husbands and fathers AND active members of their Catholic faith and the church communities in which they lived.  I thank our parsihioners who, in any way, have affected some or all of our young people who have grown up or are growing up in this parish in the ways of Christ, especially His love, charity and mercy.  We have much to thank God for in this and in other areas as well.