Holy Spirit Parish

Dear Holy Spirit Parish:                                                           5/28/2023

 
    “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.”
                                                                                                  (I Corinthians 12:7)
 
It is a meditation on God’s greatness to watch graduating seniors cross the stage and receive their diplomas.  Each one so unique.  Each one so gifted.  Each one bearing the image of God.  Each one held in life by God’s Holy Spirit.  Each one having an irreplaceable role to play in God’s plan for this world.
 
Congratulations to all who graduated yesterday, Saturday, from Pacelli High School and congratulations to all who graduate today, Sunday, from SPASH. And congratulations to the Pacelli middle schoolers who will be graduating from eighth grade this coming Tuesday at St. Peters.   How fitting graduation falls on the Feast of Pentecost, when the first disciples were sent forth in the power of the Spirit to spread light and hope to the world. 
 
This is also the season of people moving on from one stage of life to another.  Although she couldn’t join us in person at Mass, we congratulate Delia Pleet on her 99^th birthday today (May 28^th)!!  According to our parish records she is the second oldest member of Holy Spirit parish.  Lorraine Van Beckum holds first place at 104!
 
We will mark another life milestone next Sunday when we give thanks for the ministry of Jessica Enstad over the past three and a half years.  We will bless her at the 10:30am Mass and then hold a reception in Spirit Hall afterwards.  There will be a few people who speak and there will be paper and pens on the tables for everyone to write her memories or messages. Again, our sorrow is softened by the knowledge that she will remain in the parish and still share her gifts in other ways.  By the working of the Holy Spirit, we have two good applicants for our Campus Ministry Position.  We were interviewing this past week and should be able to announce her successor soon.  The next person will certainly not be the same as Jessica.  But they too will manifest the Spirit for the good of all.
 
This Thursday will be the first gathering of the book club reading LGBTQ Catholics: A Guide To Inclusive Ministry.  I have been emailed, telephoned, and spoken to in person by people interested in this gathering and by people concerned about this gathering.  The common concern has been over whether this group will follow Church teaching.  For all, I offer some clarifications.
 
This book club will be led by myself and Julie Meadows.  The group has been formed after consultation with the Parish Council and in response to the broad consensus of our synod gatherings a year ago that said including the gifts of women and LGBTQ community members were the two greatest needs in our parish at this time.  I honestly found that surprising a year ago.  But now, after meeting an equally surprising number of parish members who have children or siblings who are gay or lesbian, I realize that just beneath the surface of our Sunday morning gatherings, there is a lot of hurt and fear in many good people’s hearts over this issue.
 
The purpose of our book study is to give our parish members who have gay and lesbian family members a place to share their experiences and support one another.  Secondly, I look forward to learning from them how we as a parish can better support them and their loved ones.  All this will be done within the teaching of the Catholic Church as expressed in paragraph #2358 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity.  Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.”  Or in the words of our Pentecost scriptures, as if we believed: “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.”
 
Fr. Steve

  Click Here to Sign Up for the Summer Learning and Listening Series, Inclusive Ministry with LGBTQ Catholics
                                

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