Letter from the Pastor

          In 1806 William Wordsworth looked at his own life and the lives of his contemporaries and wrote these lines of poetry: “The world is too much with us; late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.”           If that was an accurate description of life in the early part of the nineteenth century, how much more does it describe our lives in the early part of the twenty-first century.  Don’t you agree that it can truthfully be said of you and me, “the world is too much with […]

          St. Augustine once said, “Dig deep enough in any person, and you will find something divine.”  That is a perfect description of the working method of Jesus.  Put Him one-on-one with any person, and He would dig until He found that something divine.  Then He would seek to draw out that quality and make it the dominant theme of that person’s life.            He did this with the woman who was caught in adultery.  He saw something inside of her, deeper than her sinfulness.  And He made His appeal to that.  […]

                An article, several years ago circulated in religious newspapers,  told of a famous Japanese artist who had contacted Christian missionaries to inquire about a ticket to heaven.  He was a very old man who knew that death could not be far away.  He had heard that Jesus had tickets to heaven, and he wanted to purchase one.                 None of us would laugh at the old man for wanting to go to heaven.  We all want to do that, and  we can understand that the missionaries would be pleased that a famous […]

               For all of us, life can be and should be an exciting experience.  It does not have to be dull, drab, or boring.  When I say this I am, of course, not speaking in absolutes.  None of us would expect, or even want, continuous excitement.                 Nevertheless, all of us, saint or sinner alike, do live for those times and places when life is exciting.  And we more or less endure that which lies in between.  In this we are all the same.  The difference between us is found in the ways and […]

                Religious faith brings out all sorts of qualities in the lives of the people whom it touches.  It lays hands on some, making them generous, kind and loving.  It takes hold of others and makes them cold, harsh and cruel.  St. Francis of Assisi was motivated by religious faith to renounce a personal fortune and lead a life of selfless devotion in service to the poor.  Many terrorists today are motivated by religious faith to lead lives of brutal persecution that results in the execution of hundreds and the imprisonment or displacement […]