RBWords - Volume 26 - Number 5: May 2013
Something to Think About
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
The past six months have
been some of the busiest of my life, travel-wise at least! I regard the first six months of the
liturgical year (beginning with the first Sunday of Advent) as my “busy time.” Most of my itinerant preaching in that time
period involves parish missions.
However, other events do work their way into the schedule, such as
retreats and novenas. My travels since
Advent have brought me to Florida, Maryland, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas,
Arizona, Alaska, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee and Missouri – and I will also be
in Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio in June.
Since the first week of Advent, I preached thirteen parish missions, two
retreats, one novena and made a presentation at our Southern Province
assembly. It has been a great experience
in the American church! Attendance at
mission services has varied from 5 to 300!
Everywhere there is a thirst for the Word of God proclaimed and
preached!
While I intend with God’s
help and your prayers to continue in this ministry as long as I can, I have
realized that I cannot keep up the pace I set this past few months and I have
set a kind of “event budget” to control the number of commitments that I
make. By this, I mean formal preaching
events. I’ll still respond to the
personal events of friends and family as much as possible. The latter type don’t make the same demand on
energy because friendship keeps the “love tank” full! I’ll still make my annual “retreat/vacation
treks” to Arizona and Oregon, and whenever possible find days to spend with
friends and family in Louisiana and points east! It is visits like this that enable me to be a
better preacher! My term as the prior of
the Dominican community still has another year and a half to run, so I need to
spend a bit more time here in Houston!
Keep me in your prayers, please!
IT’S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
IT HAS BEEN SAID: “Everyone
wants joy in life, but at times sadness strikes; everyone is finite and yet has
expansive hopes and longings; everyone seeks friendship but also experiences
times of loneliness and isolation; everyone sins; everyone is a subject worthy
of respect and everyone is called by God.”
From: PREACHING THE MYSTERY OF FAITH:
THE SUNDAY HOMILY
By the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, November 2012
It Has Been Said
“Everyone wants joy in life, but at times sadness strikes; everyone is finite and yet has
expansive hopes and longings; everyone seeks friendship but also experiences
times of loneliness and isolation; everyone sins; everyone is a subject worthy
of respect and everyone is called by God.”