Dear Family,
Happy Housekeeping is the name of the game for this Twitch! There are not enough words to say thanks to all the people who are involved in all the following events and undertakings.
TRINKETS AND TREASURES is hardly over and we gallop toward the next events on our full parish calendar. My heartfelt thanks to Mary Ann Smith and the incredible group of women and men who pulled off another classy “repurposing sale.” It gives a whole new meaning to ‘yard sale.’
The amount of work storing, arranging, pricing and ultimately selling, is huge. Mary Ann was heard to remark at one point, “This isn’t my first rodeo.” But how the crew manages to ride bucking broncos, rope their cattle, and throw lassos around the little heifers still demands great talent. Anyone who makes the difficult look easy, blesses us. We thank the Lord for The ‘Rodeo Master’ and the wranglers in her corral.
Another super event is our annual FISH FRY coming this Friday night, with doors open at 5:30 and dinner at 6:30. Elli Hurst and Simon Rave are doing the frying. Elli’s family originally owned the Fifteenth Street Fisheries. Elli volunteered to fry this year because she didn’t want to get our regular fry-guys burned out. Typical of all the folk who make this place work: folks who do more...
And then there is the first report on the ABCD. We received $65,934 in gifts and pledges from 89 donors. That’s 46% of the goal. We are on our way! Thank You!
SELFIES are starting to come in for the new Parish Photo Directory. Thanks to the first four, Mimi Bauer, Jim & Judy Valentine, Bill & Joan Fuccillo and David & Sarah Farrell. Garfield and I also made it to the editor’s desk. (Annie wears another hat!) You also have the option to include an email address and a phone number. Cute faces are the basic requirement. (All St. Seb. faces are cute.)
The final note in our list of good things is the report that the bids came in on construction for our new kitchen and storage room which we will add to McDonnell Parish Hall. The Archdiocese is formalizing the process but I am very pleased about the prospective contractor and I’ve asked him to get his shovels out. Say a little prayer that all the people in the city’s permiƫng department are happy campers with our plans. “Man proposes and the city permiƫng department disposes...”
Among all the things happening, in ten days we begin Lent. This year I want to try a little harder to think about things that will help me prepare for the great Easter celebration.
Making way... doing more... eating less... speaking reflectively... listening patiently... intensifying gratitude... I’m sure if you think about it, you can create your own goals and paths to those goals. For me it’s a question of taking the time to really PLAN ahead. I know just writing this Twitch is going to help.
Lent comes from the old English word Lencten that literally means March or Spring. It’s the time before Easter when people prepare for Baptism. It’s also a time to think about what being baptized means to us. We will reflect on the season more next week.
For the moment, since you’ve come this far in the Twitch, (thanks) take a moment and just start asking yourself, “What is my baptismal commitment all about?” It’s really not a bad year-round question.
In Jesus (our contractor),
