Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary.  
What we need is to love without getting tired.  

                How does a lamp burn? Through the continuous input of small drops of oil.   
If the drops of oil run out, the light of the lamp will cease, and the bridegroom will say,  
"I do not know you." (Matthew 25:12)  

                My daughters, what are these drops of oil in our lamps?  They are the small things of daily life: faithfulness,  punctuality,  small words of kindness, a thought for others, our way of

being silent, of looking , of speaking, and of acting. These are the true drops of love...  
                Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.  

                                                                                                                                                 ~ Mother Teresa

 

 

 

Dear Community of Saint Joseph's:

We have such great expectations for the holidays.  We have the image of harmonious family interaction, a delicious   dinner, a perfect day.   Unfortunately that perfect picture rarely becomes reality.  There are a multitude of  issues or    circumstances that can throw us off track and shatter our expectations of a day like Thanksgiving.

I would like to propose that instead of allowing yourself to focus entirely on the details of your feast, you might begin your Thanksgiving Day in the spirit of it's intention.  And the intention is that we stop our regularly scheduled work and gather together in gratitude for the extraordinary blessings we receive every day of our lives.  On Thanksgiving Day, Saint Joseph's will celebrate the Eucharist at 9:00 in the morning.  This time has been selected so that you may arrive at the church, celebrate, and still feel relaxed about the remaining schedule of your day.  If you join us at the beginning of this holiday, then I suspect that you will find yourself in a proper perspective of gratitude throughout the length of this very busy and demanding day.

After the initial blessing at your home meal and during the following dinner conversation you might introduce the idea of each person at the table sharing some aspect of their life for which they are grateful.  This can be a rich and rewarding way of deepening the spirituality of your family and an opportunity to maintain and encourage gratitude in the ways in which we ponder our life experience.

Regardless of where or how you will spend this holiday,  I hope that the grateful spirit of our ancestors will permeate your day and that we might become a more grateful and hopeful people.  We are so very blessed by God to live in this breathtakingly beautiful place and to exist in a moment of remarkable religious freedom.

May you be blessed in every possible way on Thanksgiving Day and every day.

 

 

 

Father Matt Pennington
Pastor