Weekly Letter: July 30 Bulletin

Dear friends in Christ,

    King Solomon appears in our first reading on this 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time and what a grand figure he is, not only biblically, but in all of history. He’s revered in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and has been memorialized in the arts, in film (masterfully played by Yul Brynner), literature, and music. Heck, even the Grateful Dead wrote a song about him!

    He’s best remembered as the builder of the Temple of Jerusalem, or what we call the First Temple or Solomon’s Temple, later replaced by the Second Temple, or Herod’s Temple. Solomon’s reign as king was roughly from 970-931 BCE, i.e., before Jesus, and by all biblical accounts he was widely known for his wealth and power, yes, but most especially for his wisdom. It’s the wisdom of Solomon which we hear of in today’s reading from 1 Kings.

    When the Lord appears to Solomon in a dream and invites him to ask for anything he wishes, his response is one that anyone in leadership should strive to emulate. He says, “Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong. For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?” That’s it. He doesn’t ask for more wealth or more power or more land or more anything, really. He simply seeks “an understanding heart.” Beautiful, isn’t it?

    I’m going to take a cue from ’ol Sol this week and put “an understanding heart” at the top of my prayer list. We often ask the Lord for so many things in our prayer – if we can even pray at all or find time for it – but this coming week, let’s make a concentrated effort to simply listen for the voice of the one who comes to us, and when He does (and He will!), give voice to your deepest desire for holy Wisdom to settle upon you as it once did for Solomon. I can’t promise that the Grateful Dead will one day write a song about you, but I can promise that we will have all we need to conquer whatever challenges the world might bring.

    I’m writing this bulletin message just a few days after returning from vacation so I’m a bit behind on what is happening around the parish this week. I can tell you that work is progressing at a good clip on the refurbishing of our chapel doors. Just the sanding alone took the better part of a week, and they are now being prepped for the first of at least two coats of stain. So far, so good. You can really tell a difference and they are shaping up nicely. The workers tell me it should be wrapped up by the end of next week. You may be interested to know that the doors are made of Douglas Fir wood, which I’m told was a very popular building material for such hardwood construction projects back in the early 1980s when our church was built. Though they had endured a lot of wear and tear over 40 years, the guys working on it tell me they are built to last and with proper maintenance, should be good for another 50 years or so.

    As for the expansion of the Prayer Garden and construction of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, expect to see some initial work begin next week. We made a few adjustments to the lighting layout and that needs final review, but I’m optimistic they will begin to get moving soon.

   Thank you for your generous response to the St. Vincent de Paul Society Black Bag collection last week. We raised nearly $16,000 for that worthwhile initiative, and I expect a few more dollars to trickle in. Thank you for your support of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. And remember, while we don’t have a local SVdP Society, we do have Cypress Assistance Ministries in our community, which does analogous work. Please remember CAM in your prayers and support, including our monthly first-of-the-month Food Pantry drive (that’s next weekend, by the way).
   
    Also, be sure to shop Angels’ Attic, CAM’s very fine resale shop located on Cypress-N. Houston just a mile from the parish. They’ve got a terrific selection of gently used goods in a variety of departments (clothes, shoes, furniture, household goods, books, etc., etc.) that is a real treasure trove to explore. They welcome donations, too, and the selection is constantly being refreshed, so make it a regular stop when shopping. I love to poke around and see what catches my eye, and best of all, 100 percent of the proceeds go right back into the CAM community to help those most in need.
 
    Lastly, though we’ve “officially” wrapped up our Operation Backpack School Supply drive for this year, we’ll still accept items through next weekend. School starts soon, however, so get your items ASAP so we can begin to distribute them to CAM and Our Mother of Mercy Church, our twinned parish in Houston’s Fifth Ward to help outfit kids going back to class. I picked up a few items at Target this week and so I can attest that the sales are still going strong. Along with buying some notebooks, pens, and colors for Operation Backpack, I even did a bit of Christmas shopping for the Toy Drive we’ll hold in December for both CAM and Our Mother of Mercy. Nothing like killing two birds with one stone! I now have a very cool T-Rex dinosaur that some kid is going to love that I picked up for 50-percent off (my mother would be so proud). He’ll be guarding my office until I donate it in four months, so if you come see me, you have been warned!

Peace,
Fr. Sean