2000 Marietta (S.E. 25th) Avenue ~ Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

(954) 524-9344 ~ Fax : (954) 524-9347

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Misting

fetscherDear Family,
This week’s gospel is challenging me to ask myself, “To what am I attached?” I’ve begun writing this early in the week and I’m pretty sure as the days pass by, my working list of attachments is going to get longer, I suspect longer than I would have thought.

I’m not making attachments a bad word. It seems to me that some attachments could be very good. We call those things virtues. Virtues are good habits and if I’m attached to a good habit, I’m grateful to the Lord.

The bad aspect is that I can become so attached to some things that I don’t even realize that they distract me from the call that every Christian re-ceives: to be, first and foremost, attached to the Lord.

Today’s image of being a branch says something very special about being attached. A good green branch has some sap flowing through it. Last night I was trimming of few of the orchids on my back porch. There’s nothing drier than a dead branch. They literally snap, crackle and pop, and no amount of water you put on them will help.

However, (and I want to assure you I’m absolutely no orchid expert) I have noticed that at times, a branch can seem to be dead. I’ve pruned a branch like that only to discover that there was still green in the middle. I’ve learned that maybe a little attention will bring it back.

Of course, the best thing you can do is make sure you’ve got a little mist going for the orchid plant all the time. Those roots will serve the beautiful flowers just begging to be allowed to bloom. The habit of “misting” the roots is very necessary for those orchids.

We are mourning/celebrating the deaths/lives of two priests of the archdiocese I knew well, Arthur Dennison and John Fink. They went to the Lord within two days of each other last week. I found myself wondering how many lives they “misted” over the nearly 100 years of ministry they had between them.

I’ve never thought of myself as a “mist-er” but as I remember to bring moisture to those plants, patiently waiting for a little attention, maybe I have a helpful new way of looking at ministry.

We send Fathers Arthur and John with our prayers. We pray “Rest in Peace.” Peace always, but rest? It’s rest from earthly labors. I can’t imagine a heaven where “rest” means nothing to do. Au contraire, it’s party time! ...and may I never “rest” from the earthly work of “misting” the plants.

I don’t want to strangle this analogy to death, but I just thought of another aspect. One of the orchids is puffing out a remarkable yellow flower with a little purple inside it. I didn’t remember that. What a great surprise it has been. And it’s only just begun. How often will a little attention bring great surprises?

I guess the walkaway from these thoughts might be to look around you and ask what – or more pointedly, WHO needs “misting.”

Be prepared to be surprised at unexpected out¬comes. Attachment to virtues can really serve you well. Hang On!

In our Risen Lord Jesus,
sign frjim

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SAINT SEBASTIAN CHURCH

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2000 Marietta (S.E. 25th) Avenue ~ Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316
Parish Office : (954) 524-9344 ~Fax : (954) 524-9347
E-Mail : info@stsebastianfl.org 


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