STEWARDSHIP AND THE 4OTH ANNIVERSARY FUND

As we approach the end of the year, we will be sending out a letter for our annual stewardship pledging. Each year we celebrate Stewardship Sunday on the Feast of the Epiphany which this year is on January 6th. Along with your gifts of time and talent we are thankful for your stewardship pledges for the coming year.

This year, and I promise, never again, we are overlapping with The 40th Anniversary fund pledging. Last week we sent out a letter to those we have not heard from so far. As of this time, we have heard from 400+ parishioners with pledges of just over $500,000. This is a very good and generous response. We do hope to hear from everyone, even if you are not able to pledge at this time. Everyone's gift counts. Thank you so much.

AN APOLOGY

It has come to my attention that the mailing company that we used to send out The 40th Fund mailings has indiscriminately included ACH cards for automatic bank withdrawals with all thank you letters for those who have responded. They were meant to be only included with those who indicated that their pledges were to be given in monthly or quarterly payments. I am very sorry that others received these inserts. Please accept my apology.

60 SECONDS FOR 60 MINUTES
Did you see 60 Minutes on CBS TV last Sunday? There was a very powerful and troubling lead story about the Chaldean Catholic community of Iraq. This ancient Christian church, by tradition going back to St. Thomas, has suffered greatly since our overthrowing of Saddam Hussein (which the Chaldean bishops opposed). They are caught in the middle and are totally unprotected. Over the last years, I have included a number of news items of specific persecution. Our government should be ashamed that we have so far only allowed a handful to come to the USA as refugees. (Sweden has welcomed thousands.) Take 60 seconds and call the Whitehouse and our Senators. Google them to get contact information or call: Whitehouse 202-456-1111; Senator Coleman 651-645-0323; Senator Amy Klobuchar 612-727-5220.

OLIVEWOOD CARVINGS FROM BETHLEHEM
Next weekend, December 15-16, we welcome representatives from the Christian community in Bethlehem who are offering religious items carved from olivewood from the Holy Land. This ancient Christian community has also faced much suffering.


INTERESTING CATHOLIC WEB SITE
New Catholic web site launched to bridge gap between faith and everyday life

A new Catholic web site was recently launched aiming to bridge the gap between Catholic faith and everyday life. The site: http://www.activeparishioner.com/ has a wealth of resource information including a Blog. Visitors can pray online, accessing daily Mass readings as well as daily meditations. Readers can also purchase books on Catholic topics by a link to amazon.com. In the Who, What, When & Where section, there are links to Bishops' Conferences Around the World, Find a US Diocese or Parish, Current Church Statistics, Mass Times Around the World, Movie Reviews, and more. The web site is the brainchild of Ana Kelly, who worked for nearly 10 years at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women, and Youth. Check it out!

GREEN POPE FOR A BLUE ADVENT

As we begin the Advent season we hear the the gospel message that the Lord will come again. We are to stay alert to the signs of the times. Pope Benedict is certainly doing that as he calls for a "moral awakening" in favor of the environment.

A recent papal message affirmed, "It is necessary to rejoice at the fact that our contemporaries recognize more and more the need for a lasting development in order to leave to future generations a truly inhabitable planet, in the perspective offered by the Creator."

The Pope voiced fears of men and women of today, such as "exhausting the resources of the planet, the rapid thawing of the glaciers, the increase of the greenhouse effect, the increase of natural disasters, excessive emission of carbon dioxide."

"These are some of the warning signs that call for a moral awakening in favor of the earth," the Pope asserted. "Once again, poorer countries will have to suffer the most serious consequences provoked by the attitude of the industrialized world and the trust -- sometimes excessive -- in scientific and technical progress."

Benedict said that God gave man his Spirit so that, with the use of reason, humans may design projects "oriented toward permitting a better distribution of the natural resources and of the goods of the earth," including a restrained use of forests and biological reserves.

"The richest nations are called not to abuse improperly the resources of the developing countries without returning to them the revenue derived from the resources of their land and underground," he affirmed. "It is a matter of the elemental principles of justice and equity and the universal destination of the goods of the earth. Besides, it is a work system about which it is necessary to reflect."

The Pope asked that each Christian "adopt new behaviors in order to serve as guardians of nature and the environment. Human intelligence has many possibilities for stimulating a new, lasting development."

THANKSGIVING AND THEN SOME

As we gather this Thanksgiving weekend we have much for which we should give thanks to God. On Monday, I was not in such a thankful mood. Throughout the day there were brief electrical interruptions and Xcel Energy had no answer for why this was occurring. Later in the afternoon, the power went off completely. Xcel reported that the local substation went down and might not be back up until 8:00 that night and we were having the Advent theme session at 6:30pm. Thankfully the power came back on around 5:30pm.

As this took place I remembered that for the people in Iraq this is their daily reality. They may have 2 or 3 hours of electricity a day. This weekend we also celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. May the Prince of Peace change hearts and minds.

WHITEY

Jim and Nancy Heller emailed me that they saw a white squirrel on our grounds and mentioned that this was the first time that Jim had seen one. Of course, Jim grew up on the prairies of South Dakota and spent his years during World War II in the South Pacific, not popular places for squirrels of any stripe. I have been blessed to have seen a number of such critters including the aforementioned. This squirrel is not an albino but just has white fur. I have seen this squirrel for the last two years and have even witnessed his crossing 94th Street. We also have a jet black squirrel in the neighborhood. I find the squirrels much better neighbors than the geese. But then I just caught a news story that yesterday squirrels shorted out electrical substations causing major power failures in Ashland, Wisconsin and Ironwood, Michigan.