Twilight Twitches

Dear Family,
We will celebrate Thanksgiving Day with the Eucharist at 10:00 am on Thursday. (We won’t have an 8:00 am morning Mass.)  What better way to celebrate than with the gift of the Lord that means “thanksgiving,” that is, the Eucharist. The Greek roots mean ‘good grace,’ or another way of puffing might be “the best relationship you can have.” Where better to start than with the Lord, especially since he has already started with us.

It seems a bit ironic to me that going all the way back to George Washington, it takes a civil proclamation to call us to thank God. But we also say “In God we Trust” and we proclaim allegiance to one nation “under God.” It seems God is part of our DNA.

Dear Family,
We are doing a little reconstruction on our hospitality and usher ministry. Before saying anything else, I’d like to thank Chuck Hansen for the six years he has served as the lead usher. It’s not an easy job and more than one person has been ferried to their hotel in the famous “red” car.

Our adjusted system will see a lead usher at each of our three liturgies, Gisella Reyes at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, Steve Black on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. and Bob Zelmer at 11:00 a.m. The three will work together to coordinate our special events such as Christmas and Easter. We have a lot of faithful ushers at each liturgy most of the time, but if you have a generous heart to assist at any of the Masses, you can talk to one of these three people who have been willing to take on this new role.

Dear Family,
So, if you are reading this on Sunday, I hope you remembered to “Fall Back.” I always think of it as nature paying me back for the hour it borrowed in the Spring when I sprung forward. I don’t spring with quite the agility I used to.

As we finally arrive at Election Day on Tuesday, it seemed to me that time was grinding to almost a halt. Have the processes of nominations and elections have been going on forever? I have this awful feeling that no sooner will we inaugurate a president in January than the process will begin all over again for 2020. We’ll probably be hearing from half the populace about the mistake the other half made.

The election might not seem at first to have much relevance to the “stuff” of a Twitch. I keep asking myself, “How does the gospel help frame this part of our lives?”

Dear Family,
Whenever we have an event that takes the dedicated work of a lot of people, I always feel inadequate at thanking the folk who were so generous. Most of them remain anonymous, some by choice, some by being taking for granted.
I may have told you the story of a great woman I knew who had a remarkable faith. I don’t mean the things she believed. I mean the utter trust that characterized her life, even when her husband, a former Pan Am pilot for many years, developed dementia and she became care-taker par excellence. She always had a smile and always said all things were in God’s hands. God was using her hands for the heavy lifting. Anyway, one day I said to her that she was a powerful encouragement for all of us. Her response was, “Oh, please don’t say that. If I get all the praise now I won’t get it in heaven.”