Kevin's Corner 10-12-08
Written by Fr. Kevin McDonough
A RECOVERY PLAN: The parish Finance Committee met this past Tuesday night. Among other items on the agenda: the long-term plans for stability for our outreach work, especially the school. Those plans are now the subject of a lively on-line discussion among Parish Council members. You should expect to hear more next weekend. We are sharing in the generalized anxiety about the direction of our economy – I appreciate whatever prayer support you can offer!
SAFE TRAVELS, FATHER IGNATIUS: We have been blessed for the past three weeks by the presence of Father Ignatius (“IG”) Nwoko, brother of parish member Jane Ubani. He made a shorter-than-usual trip this year, but came to see his newborn nephew. Father Ignatius and I enjoyed dinner together last Wednesday, and he is as energized as ever by his ministry in the Diocese of Aba, Abia State, Nigeria. I was his guest in Aba two years ago, so it was fun to catch up on people and places I now know personally. Father is pastor of a new, growing parish on the outskirts of a major regional city. He also has a new school. After serving as principal himself for the first few years, he now has hired a professional educator to organize for the future. Meanwhile, he also maintains a private practice as a lawyer. He makes me feel like a lazy person!
PRAYERS FOR PATRICE JONES: Patrice was a most active member of our parish from the 1970s until just recently. The impending closure of the Ford plant in Saint Paul caused husband, Bradley, to accept work in Kansas City, and Patrice accompanied him to a new life – although she keeps in good contact with her Claver friends. We learned very recently of the death of her much-loved grandmother. The matriarch of the family, she was very important in Patrice’s growth as a woman of faith. Her funeral is this weekend. Our school principal, Teresa Mardenborough, has flown to the Bahamas to bring our love with her. Pray eternal rest.
CONGRATULATIONS, JESSICA AND MARK: We have gone a couple of weeks without a wedding, but have remedied that absence this weekend! Jessica Santiago married her love, Mark, this Saturday. Jessica is part of the third generation of a family with a couple of decades of Claver connection. Her mother, Bobbi, is a Gomez. Our parish has witnessed the marriage of Jessica’s three siblings, two of her aunts, and a cousin, as well as more than a dozen baptisms and first communions. Please pray for a long and happy life together for them. Our next two weddings are on the last weekend of the month. I will introduce those couples to you then.
CONCORDIA GRADUATE STUDENTS: I had the honor of hosting a seminar for students in the Doctor of Ministry program of Saint Paul’s Concordia University this week. We met at Saint Peter Claver School: Missouri Synod Lutherans and Roman Catholics share a commitment to the value of parochial education, so I wanted to show off our kids and their teachers. The presence of the candidates here was another sign of the thoughtfulness of Dr. Robert Holst, who is the president of Concordia. He has led that university’s renewed commitment to our neighborhood – they are just west of Saint Paul Central High School, a quarter mile from Claver. Dr. Holst believes that his school is stronger because of its central location in the Twin Cities, as their students get to see what our American future and its diversity look like. He is right!
A BOARD RETREAT: I will be away from Claver for 48-hours this week, but not far away. The board of directors of the Northwest Area Foundation has our annual retreat in Red Wing from Wednesday until Friday. We will review the philanthropic work of the Foundation in eight states in the Northwest, and look over the (excellent!) work of the Foundation’s new president, Kevin Walker, who joined us last Spring. Kevin visits Claver from time to time.
A BUSY SHELTER: The Project Home Shelter is certainly going at fill tilt! We have been full or nearly so for all but the first two nights of this month. I am worried that the instability of our economy will put even more pressure on the already-overloaded shelters and food shelves in our community. If for no other reason than that, please pray that the economic adjustment happens quickly and that we get moving again.
MY WEEKENDS IN MINNEAPOLIS: We have made our calendar for the next four months at my “other parish” in Minneapolis – the Community of Sagrado Corazon de Jesus. I plan to celebrate the 11:30 there on November 23 and December 21, and will miss the 10:00 Mass at Claver on those two days. I will also celebrate that 11:30 in Minneapolis next Sunday, October 19, but will have the 10:00 Mass here too – I was having trouble getting a weekend substitute, so I thought we could try out whether it will work on occasion to have me take both of those Masses. Expect next Sunday’s 10:00 to be a little shorter than usual! Finally, I will be away entirely on the weekend of November 1 and 2, for a wedding out of town. I have cancelled out most of the longer trip I was planning to take in late October and early November, but will be gone a few days.
HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION: This week the McNeely and Summer Foundations committed $25,000 to support science education at Claver School, and immediately forwarded a check for half the total amount. The McNeely family was among our earliest supporters, having made a grant of just under a half million dollars during the first four years of our renewed operation.
Occasional visitors and Claver parish grandparents, Frank and Pam Monteiro, sent us a check for $500 in support of our school. Thank you, friends!
We had site visits from two foundations this past Wednesday. Two staff members from the General Mills Foundation came to look at our after-school program, and the Walker Foundation is considering some aid for a learning garden. We are hopeful!