Thanks so much to everyone who made our Annual Golf Tournament another wonderful success. We had a sell-out crowd on Monday. Even Bishop Golka and Father Chance joined us and played 18 holes! I only showed up for the lunch and award ceremony at the end! I tried golfing many years ago, but to me the old quote rings true, “golf is a good walk spoiled.” If you like a good walk, however, Perry Park Country Club
is a beautiful place!
I joined twelve spiritual directors from our diocese this week in their study of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. Deacon Tom Sandusky, from Pax Christi Parish, was our leader. We met in our Assisi Hall all week. It was a wonderful opportunity to dive deep into the retreat plan of Saint Ignatius that helps those who desire a deeper relationship with Jesus to find one. If I weren’t a Pastor, I would happily be a spiritual director full-time. I made the Spiritual Exercises during Lent 1991. Over the years, I have accompanied young men and women discerning their vocation and finding the Spiritual Exercises an excellent help.
This coming week, our parish office will be closed on Tuesday to allow our parish staff a retreat day. We will be going to the Stewardship Conference hosted by our Diocese at St. Gabriel Parish in Colorado Springs. Stewardship is a lot more than money. It is living a way of life in gratitude for the all the gifts that God has given us. If you have ever heard Bishop Golka talk about stewardship, you know that he truly lives it. Please keep us in your prayers on Tuesday so that we will come back even better stewards of all the gifts that God has given us here at St. Francis.
Finally, on Thursday this coming week, I’ll be joining the Douglas County Pastor’s Roundtable. It is a quarterly meeting of all the pastors of Douglas County. Our biggest concern is the growing homeless population and how we might best help them. This is a controversial issue. But if you listen to this Sunday’s Gospel, it is not controversial at all. It is our way of life as Christians. Jesus is calling us to go beyond the safe circles of our friends and family and invite the poor and those who might make us feel uncomfortable to join us. How we do that is what makes our Christian life an adventure! As Jesus said at the end of today’s Gospel, “Blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:14).
Rev. Mark Zacker
Pastor