ST. ED'S 40TH

This coming September we are celebrating our parish's 40th Anniversary. Rena mentions in the above column that as part of the celebration we will have a 40th Anniversary edition pictorial directory. With online registration this should be very user friendly. You only need bring a smile for the actual photo shoot.

As part of the Anniversary commemoration, we have made an early thanksgiving gift to our sister parish, Our Lady of the Angels, in Jinotega, Nicaragua. Our tithing committee granted a tithing gift of $4,000 for them to make a much needed roof repair on their church. We have so much to thank God for and we are fortunate in being able to share our blessings. And we are also celebrating the 20th Anniversary of our relationship with our sister parish.

Happy Easter!

With the rest of the staff, I hope that this Easter will be an occasion of great joy and happiness for all the members of our parish community and those who join us this weekend. We pray that the tremendous meaning of the Easter celebration will give new meaning and purpose to our lives.

We extend a very special welcome to those who have been received into our community and welcomed to the Lord's table this Easter!

Having celebrated Lent and Holy Week as well, a special word of thanks must go out to all who have made this a special time. This includes all who generously give their time and talent to make our liturgies especially graceful and grace-filled. Many help to prepare the church and assist in ministry. Thanks to those who help with environments, our worship committee, the choir and other musicians, ushers, greeters, lectors, Eucharistic Ministers and RCIA team. And thanks to the maintenance staff who keep the church looking good.

This weekend, we gather to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We sing wonderful music that speaks of our praise, adoration and joy! But in reality, every Sunday in the Christian Church is an Easter Sunday, because we remember Christ's resurrection each week. I thank you for your generous stewardship. You make it possible to share the Easter message every day. Thank you for all the outreach through such wonderful programs as Families Moving Forward (FMF), VEAP, Bridging, and our Sister Parishes. These are also signs of new life.

WHO NEEDS SWALLOWS

One of the great signs of spring and the intersection of the natural world with the spiritual realm is the annual return of the swallows to San Juan Capistrano on St. Joseph's Day, March 19. Here at St. Edwards we also have a similar phenomenon, the return of the Killdeers. They are back and Easter cannot be far away.

When we gather this weekend for the Palm Sunday services, we again reconnect with something truly unchangeable and utterly unique, as we enter the special time known as Holy Week and celebrate the great Love poured out for us in Jesus Christ.

There has been much preparation that goes into the Holy Week celebrations, so much to do for our liturgical ministers and musicians. Please take advantage of this special time of prayer and reflection and join us for as many of the services as you can during the Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter.

And let me give you a special heads up. On Easter Sunday, the 9:30 and 11:00am Masses tend to be most crowded. If you plan to attend these services please come early to get a seat. You might also want to consider the less crowded 8 am Easter Sunday mass or even the special Easter Vigil service starting at 8:30pm on Saturday night.

CATHOLIC SPIRIT NEWSPAPER

Our parish pays for parishioners to receive the Archdiocesan paper. Actually this is not due to the generosity of the pastor, the Archbishop requires us to do this. I believe that the paper has some interest for you. One of our parishioners, Terri Mifek, is a frequent contributor. And parishioner Sharon Soderlund who heads the Archdiocese's Respect Life Program also writes for the paper. More recently a new columnist, Father Ron Rolheiser has been added. He is also a great spiritual writer.

If you do not currently receive the Spirit and would like to, please call the Church office at 952-835-7101 and we will gladly sign you up.

I WONDER

As children, many of us learned of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World as identified by the Greeks. Today that list is being updated by millions of people around the globe casting Internet ballots.

Millions of Chinese, Indians, Mexicans, Brazilians, Americans and others have cast 28 million votes, organizers say. They have generated 21 wonder finalists, including the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, the Acropolis in Athens, Jordan's ancient city of Petra and the pyramids of Giza in Egypt. Also in consideration are Britain's Stonehenge, the statues of Easter Island and even the Statue of Liberty.

"It is comparing apples and oranges, and that's why it is a subjective thing, but a wonder is something that moves you and makes you wonder why they built it and how they built it," said Tia Viering, a spokeswoman for the organizers, the New 7 Wonders Foundation.

The seven winners will be announced on July 7, or 07/07/07.

The idea for the campaign came from Swiss Canadian filmmaker Bernard Weber, who, according to the group's website ( http://www.new7wonders.com/), formed the nonprofit foundation in Zurich in 2001 "to protect humankind's heritage across the globe" and alert people "to the destruction of nature and the decay of our man-made heritage."

According to Viering, as of January 31, the top seven vote-getters were Petra, the pyramids, the Great Wall, the Taj Mahal, the Easter Island statues, the Colosseum in Rome and the Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru. The Statue of Liberty has stubbornly remained in the bottom seven for most of the campaign, she said.

Schools also are involved, using teaching aids on the foundation's Web site for history and geography classes.

What wonders would you add? I once heard a person say that for them the true wonders are: to see, to hear, to smell, to touch, to taste, to think, to love, to dream.

REEL GOOD
Last week I went to see the movie "Sweet Land" which concerns a young immigrant woman in the 1920's coming to marry a man she has never met. The setting is in southwest Minnesota and it is beautifully made. It brings to mind the struggles and courage of many of our ancestors. A church community is also very central to the movie. I would certainly recommend it. While watching the credits I noticed that parishioner Craig Siiro was listed.


BETTER THAN UPS
Last week's snowfalls disrupted the delivery of our church bulletin from the printer. Our bulletin editor Jean Kirchberg made a special effort to come in Saturday night and print copies of the bulletin for the Sunday masses. Thank you, Jean, for your generous spirit.

A REAL SNOW JOB

Last weekend's snow storm was a pastor's nightmare. Thankfully it was not on Christmas weekend! I was truly amazed that we had as many people show up for Mass as we did. Many came for Saturday's 5:00pm Mass before the main storm hit. We only had 61 people at the 8:00am Mass. Of course, it can be dangerous for many people to come out in such conditions and it is good to use your discretion. Obviously it is not a sin to miss Mass under such conditions.

I want to especially thank our head of maintenance, Gene Vavra, and parishioner Ken Wright who put in many hours last Saturday and Sunday keeping the sidewalks and doorways open. They did a great job.

As I write this, we are expecting more snow over the next few days. But the weekend looks good so I am sleeping better.


MUCH FURTHER NORTH

The Catholic Register newspaper recently had the following headline: "Married Catholic priest ordained for remote, world's largest geographic parish." The story came from the Northwest Territories of Canada and concerned a former protestant minister, Don Flumerfelt who was ordained as the first Catholic priest married with children in the Mackenzie-Fort Smith Diocese.

After 29 years as an Anglican minister, Father Flumerfelt will now lead a Catholic parish in the Mackenzie-Fort Smith Diocese. While it's the largest diocese geographically in the world, it only has seven priests: three are on loan from other southern Canadian dioceses, three are diocesan priests and one is an Oblate of Mary Immaculate order priest.

In his closing remarks at the ordination, Flumerfelt made the interesting comment, "It's (my wife's) 'yes,' along with the pope, that has given me the privilege of standing here today as a Roman Catholic priest."

For many years, bishops in this remote area have requested ordaining married men since the discipline of celibacy is only a discipline of the church and not essential to priesthood. Indeed a number of priests of the Diocese have over the years left ordained ministry in order to marry. At least two continue to serve as parish lay leaders.

One is James Lynn, the parish leader at the Dettah Mission, a small 30-person mission just outside Yellowknife. In Lynn's case, he left 17 years ago to marry a native woman. He is no longer able to celebrate Mass, but does lead eucharistic services in which the host is pre-consecrated by a priest. Asked about Flumerfelt he responded, "It's interesting for myself. They'll let me through the back door, but they won't let me through the front."

Internationally, hundreds of married priests from other Christian faiths have been ordained by the Catholic Church in recent years, including one in our Archdiocese. While the Catholic Church does allow married priests in such instances, the Orthodox Church allows married priests, as do the Eastern-rite Catholic churches.