Hey All!
Welcome to the St. Peter's email list for those in their 20's-30's! This regular email will be weekly (hopefully!) and include various reflections, tidbits, news and events. Hope you find it fruitful!
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Tidbits:
This Sunday is Pentecost. Pope Benedict XVI is due to meet this Saturday, the eve of Pentecost, with some 300,000 members of ecclesial movements and new communities in St. Peter's Square. Some estimated 100 groups are expected to be represented. Pope Benedict has invited the members of these groups, inspired and lead by the Holy Spirit to Rome to pray and meet with him.
We don't always see it, especially here in our little corner of the world, but there is a great renewal underway in the Church. People who have been touched by God, and lead by the Spirit toward new iniatives and groups. The numbers above bear that out, 300,000! And each of these groups has the goal of leading people closer to Christ.
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On a less encouraging note...in mid-January the Supreme Court let stand Oregon's assisted suicide law. Bishop Robert Vasa of Baker, Oregon gave a very thought-provoking reflection that, which was quoted in "First Things."
"For the victims of Oregon's assisted-suicide law the world has become a place that they feel is not worth living in. In the past, we would have seen this as a desparate cry for help, a sign of depression, a sign that the person needs help not to die but to live better. The Oregon Solution, however removes any glimmer of hope and assures the person that their feels of hopelessness, perhaps uselessness, feelings of being a burden are all exactly right. So when the depressed person says, 'I don't feel like I have any reason to continue living,' Oregon says, 'You know, you're right! There really is no reason for you to continue living.' What a horrible thing to do to depressed, distressed, suffering, and even terminally ill persons. The human spirit seeks meaning, grasps at hope, and Oregon takes these away. Clearly, sick and suffering people feel that their lives are meaningless. We can either affirm or deny meaning to them. One leads to life the other to suicide. Life is meaningful and valuable. Suicide affirms hopelessness....They need to know that their lives are valuable and worth living. They need to know that they are loved and esteemed and even needed. Every suicide, and especially an assisted suicide, represents a failure of the human community to affirm the meaning of a person's life."
Amen to that. The bishop's profound words also reinforce why the leading critics of Oregon's assisted suicide laws, outside of religious groups, are those that advocate for the disabled, sick, and mentally ill.
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Announcements:
-Next Thursday, Sr. Mary Gabriel, O.P., formerly Sarah Weyker of St. Peter's Parish, will be coming back to talk about being in the convent at the Nashville Dominicans and say thank you for all the support she received while she was here. 5 years ago, she left to join the convent, and judging from the huge smile she has in every picture I see of her, she's happy with that decision :-) The Nashville Dominicans are a beautiful, young religious community that is literally Exploding with vocations. Come here her talk at 7pm at St. Peter's on June 8th.
-June 10th/11th is the annual Parish Picnic/Festival. Come for the games, music, dancing, and fun!
-Looking ahead. July 12th is the first night for Theology on Tap in Stevens Point. It will be held at 7pm at Pete's Pub & Grill. First night's topic: "Every Body's Doing It: Theology of the Body" by Matt & Rebecca Sande.
God bless you!
Phil Lawson