<TW>Weekend of 06 and 07 October 2007
- From: "Fr. Pat Umberger" <frpat@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Fr. Pat Umberger" <frpat@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 09:05:24 -0500
.=: T H I S W E E K E N D :=.
from Father Pat Umberger
___________________________________________________
J O I N S I S T E R J O S E L D A A N D M E
Only FIVE seats remain. Seats will be ticketed on October 4th.
If you're interested, call Pentecost Tours right away!
800 713-9800
A great Pilgrimage to the Holy Land - 04-15 November 2007!
$2714 from Minneapolis or $2599 from JFK in New York!
For the brochure and complete information, follow the link from:
www.frpat.com
F A M I L Y A N D F R I E N D S
Encourage them to Subscribe to Morning Prayer!
If you enjoy the NEW Morning Prayer, why not forward a copy to family
members and friends. Many seem to enjoy the new format. Some say that they
like to attend Daily Mass, but cannot always do so. Morning Prayer keeps
them in touch with the daily Scriptures and Saint of the day. Not all
priests preach on all weekdays. Morning Prayer provides a short reflection
and a concrete way to apply Scriptures to our lives. Clergy too, appreciate
the simple ideas found in both Morning Prayer and This Weekend. Family
members and friends can learn more by following the banner link from:
www.frpat.com
F A M I L Y F U N F E S T
St. Pat's annual Fall Fun Fest is October 13th. There will be food,
entertainment and fun for people of all ages. There are also Raffle Tickets
available. If you live close to us, why not join us. Or, perhaps you'd
like to help us by purchasing some raffle tickets. You can learn more at:
www.stpatz.com
______________________________________________
.=: V O L U M E 2 0 0 7 , Number 10-07 :=.
.=: T H I S W E E K E N D ' S S C R I P T U R E S :=.
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.
Weekend of 06 and 07 October 2007
Follow this link for this weekend's Scriptures:
www.nccbuscc.org/nab/
.=: R E F L E C T I O N Q U E S T I O N S :=.
"How long, O LORD? I cry for help but you do not listen!" When do we lose
patience with God?
"I cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not intervene." Why is it that
when bad things happen, God doesn't intervene? Would we have true free will
if God intervened whenever it looked like we were going to get into trouble?
"The rash one has no integrity; but the just one, because of his faith,
shall live." How can we summon this kind of integrity and patience?
"For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love
and self-control." What happens when we act without love? Without
self-control? When is it easier to be cowardly?
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." The Lord replied, "If
you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry
tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. Do we
need more faith? What would happen if we put into action the faith we have?
When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable
servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'" What does it mean to
be God's servant? What are the rewards of living as God's servant? Why do
we sometimes expect more?
How are these readings challenging? Comforting?
(c)MMVII Fr. Pat Umberger. These Reflection Questions are found each week
at the Web Site www.frpat.com. Feel free to link to this page or reproduce
them for parish use as long as this credit remains.
.=: S P I R I T U A L R E F L E C T I O N :=.
Many of us pray, then complain as did the prophet Habakkuk, that our prayers
are not being answered. We become discouraged when God doesn't do what we
want. In our discouragement we can be tempted to lose heart. How tempting
it can be to look outside ourselves for the answers to our prayers. How
convenient it would be if God would just do as we wished!
God's most common response comes to us in our second reading, "I remind you,
to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of
my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power
and love and self-control." We don't need exterior change as much as change
on the inside. We need to see the gifts of the Spirit that God has given
us. We can easily quench the spirit when we give in to our doubts and
fears.
It's tempting too, to ask as Jesus' disciples did, "Lord, increase our
faith!" How easy it is for us to feel like we don't have enough. We can
listen to stories of the saints and other great heroes and imagine the
depths of their faith. If only we had some of that, then we could do
remarkable things.
We forget that Jesus' own apostles asked for more faith. We forget that
many of our greatest Saints sometimes felt empty of faith. They didn't
simply wait around for change. They didn't spend time feeling sorry for
themselves. They simply busied themselves with prayer, fasting and good
works. Although their faith and patience were tested, they persevered with
the strength and courage that are gifts from God.
"If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this
mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."
We have all the faith we need. We just need to put the faith we have been
given into action.
This week we can consider times when we have been fearful and discouraged,
those times when we feel we might lose heart. We can recall those gifts of
the Spirit that have been given us by God. We can trust that those gifts
will blaze up within us. We can persevere as God's Saints have done through
the ages. We can believe that nothing is impossible with God. Have a good
week!
(c)MMVII Fr. Pat Umberger. This Spiritual Reflection is found each week at
the Web Site www.frpat.com. Feel free to link to this page or reproduce them
for parish use as long as this credit remains.
__________________________________________________
<TW>This Weekend is free, and comes from:
Father Pat Umberger, a priest of the Diocese of La Crosse
in Wisconsin U.S.A.
Web Site: www.frpat.com
Evangelization (reaching out): www.cmonback.com
.=: M A K E A D O N A T I O N ? :=.
www.frpat.com/donation.htm
.=: F O R W A R D I N G :=.
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.=: C H A N G E Y O U R S U B S C R I P T I O N :=.
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