Week in the World: November 15th

November 12, 2015

Active times at St. Peter's leads to many points of connection to the parish.

Firstly, the school has begun its transformation into the Emerald City, complete with ruby red shoes and primary-colored roads. The flying monkeys arrive tomorrow. It's not too late to join in the fun of the annual School Gala; twister over to its website for more information.

We also look back -- all the way to Sunday -- recalling all the stewardship that was and continues to be. On our annual celebration of Stewardship Sunday, St. Peter Parish honored Jimmy and Michelle Seghers with the Ruth Strain Prats Faithful Stewardship Award. View the video below to be taken back to Fr. Otis's presentation. Thank you to Jimmy and Michelle and all!

Sometimes talking about the Church can be an exercise in "inside baseball terminology" -- dissecting the many fine points at play in a way only understandable by those having the full rules book memorized.

One such conversation occurred in the interpretation of the Synod on the Family, as NY Times opinion columnist Ross Douthot and America Magazine editor Fr. James Martin, SJ went back and forth and back again.

There's a place for those discussions. There's also a place for both men and their contribution to the Church at large -- which have been significant.

WIth the holiday season nearly upon us, Fr. Martin offers one such contribution this week, finding space on the Jesuit Post to pen a modern-day Serenity Prayer. Let it be a help in the busyness ahead.

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the people I cannot change,
which is pretty much everyone,
since I’m clearly not you, God.
At least not the last time I checked.

And while you’re at it, God,
please give me the courage
to change what I need to change about myself,
which is frankly a lot, since, once again,
I’m not you, which means I’m not perfect.
It’s better for me to focus on changing myself
than to worry about changing other people,
who, as you’ll no doubt remember me saying,
I can’t change anyway.

Finally, give me the wisdom to just shut up
whenever I think that I’m clearly smarter
than everyone else in the room,
that no one knows what they’re talking about except me,
or that I alone have all the answers.

Basically, God,
grant me the wisdom
to remember that I’m
not you.

Amen.

-Fr. James Martin, SJ

Prepare for your mind to be blown: priests, deacons, religious, et al are human. That means, with interests and skills and gifts. It's always nice to see them on display, such as this past week when Sr. Alicia Torres competed on Food Network's show "Chopped."

A member of the Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago, Sr. Alicia serves at Our Lady of the Angels Mission in Chicago, the soup kitchen the Franciscan sisters administer. Her $10,000 prize will go to further that good work.

Food Network will allow you to purchase the “Thanksgiving Soup-er Stars” episode from Youtube, or you can try to find one of the upcoming replays:

TUESDAY - NOV 17 - 9 :00PM - FOOD

WEDNESDAY - NOV 18 - 12:00AM - FOOD

SATURDAY - NOV 21 - 10:00PM - FOOD

The play! The play! Channeling our inner Tattoo of "Fantasy Island," it's with great excitement that we greet another performance of the St. Paul Marian Players, bringing to life "The Outsiders." Many of our teenagers participate in these productions directed by Ms. Denny Charbonnet, encouraging our support of their good work. Performances run through Sunday.

Read more about this season's show in The Paper Wolf.