26th Sunday                    in Ordinary Time

 

Presiding Today: 

Fr. Loren Connell

 

In Today’s Mass We Pray For:

Matt Hoefler

 

Proclaimers of the Word:

Mike & Teresa Bickett

 

This Week’s Readings 

September  26

Amos 6:1,4-7

1 Timothy 6:9-16

Luke 16:19-31

 

Next Week’s Readings 

October 3

Habakkuk 1:2-3,2:1-4

2 Timothy 1:6-8,13-14

Luke 17:5-10

 

 

 

Upcoming Events

 

Council Meeting

September 28, 7 PM

 

House of Bread

October 2

 

Campaign Kick-Off Brunch

October 3 after Mass

St. Leonard Faith Community

Loren T. Connell, OFM

chaplain/moderator

937-436-6440

brolocon@sbcglobal.net

 

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

 

What do you enjoy doing? I did not ask how you pass your time away but what you enjoy doing. If we enjoy doing something, we probably have an aptitude for it. We are not necessarily the best at it, but in one way or another it fits our personality. Such an aptitude, such a fit, is a gift from God. I encourage each of us over the next few weeks to look at what we enjoy, at our God-given gifts, and to consider how we might give those gifts back to God in service to God’s people. Think big! Think outside the box! Christian stewardship consists in using our gifts as the Giver intended.

 

In four weeks, we shall have the privilege and responsibility of electing many local, state, and national officials. Many factors enter into our decision-making processes and our voting patterns: our family background, our education, our health, our financial security, and our party affiliation, to name but a few. I hope that we can all allow the Gospel to challenge us and inform us this election season. Good Catholics can hear the Gospel differently and arrive at different conclusions. Good Catholics will always be humble enough to hear all sides of an issue and to change their position if their conscience so directs.

 

It is possible that you will find political flyers in our chapel or in our parking lots.  Neither the Faith Community nor the Senior Living Community takes a stand on electoral politics. Any distribution of flyers on this campus is the result of private individuals acting without the permission or authorization of the community. I suggest that you bundle any such flyers with your recycled paper. Democracy is messy and subject to abuse, but can you think of a more equitable way to select our leadership?

 

This week I shall join some of my brothers from Saint John the Baptist and Assumption provinces for a retreat in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. On my way there, I hope to visit dear friends in Lafayette, Indiana. On my way back, I hope to enjoy the early days of fall wandering through Michigan’s upper peninsula. I ask your prayers that both the retreat and the vacation be life-giving.

 

                                                Peace and every blessing,

                                                    Loren, OFM