Kevin's Corner 09-21-08
Written by Fr.Kevin McDonough
CONGRATULATIONS, SR. SHARON AND BOB BOBST: The Parish Council met for our first Fall meeting this past Tuesday. One of our first orders of business was to choose new officers. Sister Sharon Howell and Bob Bobst were chosen as chair and vice-chair respectively. Sister Sharon was already serving as the head of the parish Finance Committee, so she knows intimately that challenging part of the parish’s life. Bob also has broad knowledge of our parish through serving as our Social Committee chair. If you have attended any parish event in the last two years, chances are that Bob and his wife Janie have served you something Delicious to eat. Bob is also the Grand Knight of Court 256 of our Knights of Peter Claver.
AND THANK YOU, DAN GLOVER: For the last two years Dan has provided excellent minutes and other communications for the Council. The curse of having done a good job – Dan was reelected as Council secretary. A computer expert at the University of Minnesota, Dan is helping us bring our internal Council communications into the 21st century. He is also the chair of the Education Committee. Thank you, Dan!
A CHALLENGING YEAR AHEAD: Parish members will receive a letter at home early this week, reviewing our financial report for 2007-2008, and the challenges emerging from it. As you will see, the Council will have our work cut out for us. Pray for inspiration and trust!
CONGRATULATIONS TO TWO MORE COUPLES: this has been a summer for African weddings. Last weekend Dr Sultan Michael, a long time member of our parish’s Eritrean network, married Yordanos. It was a beautiful but somewhat sad celebration. The bride’s uncle was to have presided at her wedding, but he was killed in a car accident just two weeks before her big day. This weekend is a time of celebration for Catherine Kuria and John Mambo. Cate and her sisters Mary and Jennifer, natives of Kenya, have worshipped at Claver since the mid-1990’s. John is a fellow Kenyan, in spite of his West African sounding name. Pray great happiness, please, for both couples.
ANOTHER SUPPORTIVE NOTE: The collection basket recently included a note that said: “Months ago I was praying to find a church like the one I used to attend in a small Minnesota town when I was younger. Small and simple seemed so hard to find here in the Cities. I’d been away from the church for years and started feeling an emptiness, and ache to development my first real relationship with God. A friend directed me here to Saint Peter Claver, and from the moment I walked into this small, simple space and saw the duct tape on the books, I knew it was right. I’ve been here a few times now and had tears come to my eyes during each Mass. It really feels like I was led here. Thank you.” I add my thanks to all our members who bring guests to church and who make them welcome when they are here.
REMEMBERING THREE GREAT LADIES: This weekend is the anniversary of the deaths of three of our lovely parish elder stateswomen. Annette Calloway died last year on September 19, Donazell Lowmack on the 20th, and Theresia Carey on the 21st. Mrs. Calloway was a parish historian and community leader, having served as a parish trustee in the 1990’s. Mrs. Lowmack was a prayer warrior, interceding for us all day long even as she was dying in the nursing home. And Mrs. Carey was a pioneer – raised in the Rondo community and Saint Peter Claver, she and her husband moved to an undeveloped part of Maplewood and, over time, that now bears their family name. Pray for our departed giants!
ONE MORE TRIP: Since June I have been taking a series of mostly short trips to visit family members and friends “in their natural environment”. I have the last such trip this week and next. I will be in New York for three days, Monday till Thursday, visiting with my high school debate partner and life-long friend, Jean Louis L’Allier and his wife Helen and two kids. I was their best man 22 years ago, and look forward to some good days with them. From New York I will fly to Fort Worth, Texas, where my brother Pat and his family live. Some of you will remember Pat and Karen through their younger son, Sean, who made his First Communion with us just over a month ago. They are usually only at Claver once a year or so, when their academic calendars (she is a college professor and he a special education teacher) permit them to make a long visit at Christmas. Father Joseph Atadana has agreed to cover the Masses at Saint Peter Claver next weekend. Please welcome his enthusiastic praying and preaching.
HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION: After a shortened opening week, we have completed two full weeks of school at Saint Peter Claver Catholic. We are up and running with a most business-like atmosphere. Principle Teresa Mardenborough continues to acclaim this as the best start of her sever-year tenure. One challenge: more students than usual seem to be experiencing breathing difficulties as a result of allergies and related asthma. When the school community gathers each morning for Assembly and prayer, we are praying for the good health not only of our own students and families, but of young people all over the Twin Cities. These first weeks of school are critical in setting the tone for the entire school year – please pray for open airways and regular attendance for young people in all our schools.
A Twin Cities area foundation meets this Sunday and Monday in order to consider a grant request of $15,000 in support of our school. Ask God to inspire their generosity. We currently have nearly $200,000 in grant request pending with various foundations and corporations. The long-term health of our outreach work, and especially our school, depends heavily on community partnerships. If you have connections to potential benefactors, please let us know.