THE RESULTS ARE IN

Our youth Boundary Waters canoe trip went well. We paddled about 70 miles over 5 days and covered a lot of water. As I mentioned earlier, we took along a Secchi dish provided by the Friends of the Boundary Waters organization. They are interested in preserving the water quality of the canoe area.

The Secchi dish is named after a Jesuit priest, Father or Padre Pietro Angelo Secchi. He lived 150 years ago and was one of the first scientists with an interest in water quality. To classify lake and river water for differences in clarity he devised a disk which is lowered into the water. The Secchi disk (pronounced
sek-ki) is a flat, horizontal, black and white disk that is used to measure lake transparency-the depth to which one can see into the water.

The BWCAW (Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness) water is still pure enough that with some basic precautions you can drink the water right out of the lakes. And the clarity is amazing. The winner was Seagull Lake with transparency we measured at 26 feet. In the other lakes we tested the readings were in the teens and low twenties. It sure beats the Minnesota River!

ON VACATION

This past week I was on a canoe trip with some young men from the parish so I have "invited" a visiting priest to take this space. This is from Father Bob Silva, a great priest who leads the NFPC or National Federation of Priests‘ Councils. He is a person with a very wide perspective due to his working with priests throughout the world.


The summer months are considered a time for vacations, relaxation and, in general, a slower pace of life.

In the present day, summer has not brought much in the way of relief. In fact, the bombings and killings in Iraq have increased. The terrorist actions in London have shaken not only England, but nations across the globe. The need for enhanced security and the imperative of increased vigilance on everyone‘s part heightens the usual stresses.

In the world of religion, we read that British Catholics are "turning their backs on going to church because of the strains of modern life. The 90 page report, titled ‘Not Easy But Full of Meaning‘ said many Catholic couples were simply too tired to attend Mass on Sundays after a week spent juggling the demands of their jobs and domestic duties."

The hectic pace and growing tension increases:

The retirement of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O‘Connor has brought about another period of political and ideological tension with a "devout Catholic," Federal Judge John Roberts, caught in the middle of it.A Roman document on homosexuality and candidacy for priesthood that reiterates the earlier document which stated: "A homosexual person, or one with a homosexual tendency, is not fit to receive the sacrament of orders" is now on the Pope‘s desk for his consideration. At the same time, Cardinal Marc Ouellete of Canada testified that the Church may refuse to baptize the children of gay parents. All of this raises the level of stress for families with homosexual sons and daughters, for people of homosexual orientation and for priests who either are homosexuals or have homosexual tendencies.

And finally, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is seeking the aid of Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.) in asking the Justice Department to investigate the Catholic Church. SNAP holds that the Catholic Church in this country committed "conspiratorial acts" when it moved priests across state lines or withheld information about priests who were sex offenders.

The problems of life and the fragility of the human condition beset us from moment to moment. The intensity of the pressure that these kinds of situations bring to bear can create situations for the people we serve that are seemingly overwhelming.

It truly seems to be a world of "sheep without a shepherd." Every one is running--for many reasons--in different directions or into each other. If you have ever worked with sheep, the image of scattering sheep is very familiar. In the process of the scattering, the sheep are frightened, out of control, hurt, hurtful of each other, even to the point of death.

I once watched as a false shepherd took a stick and tried to beat the sheep into submission. Yelling and scolding, he took his stick and "whacked" the sheep trying to get them to do what he wanted, what he thought was right for the sheep. What happened, of course, is that with each scolding and each "whack," the sheep bleated in terror and the pandemonium grew worse.

What did the "good shepherd" do when he came upon the scene? He immediately stopped the "false" shepherd from beating and yelling at the sheep. And then, in a very gentle way and with a voice of soothing invitation gathered the sheep slowly, gently and without fear. Gathered together without fear!

Isn‘t that the role of the priest today in this crazy world we live in? We find our people terrified by the circumstances of this modern world, stressed and scattered. With the staff of the Good Shepherd in hand and armed with the words of the Gospel that soothe and calm the distressed, in gentle, caring and loving ways we call, invite and encourage our people to find the God of justice and the Christ of peace. We are to gather our people, not scatter them--center them, not disburse them.

Then we proclaim the Word that gives life. Like the rain that falls from heaven, it is to fall on the just and the unjust. It is a unifying Word, a healing Word, and a Word that gathers. It is a Word of Love that rules out fear.

When we can gather people together without fear we have a chance to overcome the dark underside of life in this world. Having heard the Word we have a chance to sit at a banquet table to eat together. And slowly, our eyes are opened to recognize the Lord, the Good Shepherd, in our midst whose power is stronger than that of any bomb and whose love is big enough to embrace us all.

Fr Mike

REPAINT AND THIN NO MORE

There is the joke of the pastor who to cut costs "thinned" the paint used on the church steeple. He was found out and he got the above message from God. Thankfully, at St Ed’s we received a quality paint job this past week for the area around the lower entrance. Rich Hames and his crew did not take any short cuts in the 90 degree weather. In fact they did some additional patching and took down the awnings to insure doing it right. The finished product looks great...

HARD HEADED

One of our older but very active parishioners recently had a very serious bike accident. It happened as he tried to avoid some other people who stepped in front of him. All he could do was to crash the bike which resulted in his going over the handlebars. Thankfully he was wearing a bike helmet. Although he was seriously injured he is making a remarkable recovery. Without the helmet it would have been a different story.

I do wear a helmet when I bike but it was over 20 years old. Our parishioner‘s accident caused me to take my helmet to a bike store where I learned how inadequate this "first generation" helmet was. For under $20 I was able to get a very safe and comfortable model. Call me hard headed.

RIDE NEEDED

Fr. Tim Vakoc, the Archdiocesan priest who was severely injured in Iraq last year while serving as an Army chaplain has been hospitalized at the Veterans Hospital in Minneapolis. His parents, Henry and Phyllis, who live in the New Hope area are in need of evening rides to visit their son. If you can be of assistance to do this occasionally please call me at 952-835-7101, ext. 213. Thank you.

Fr Mike

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

The resignation of Justice Sandra Day O‘Connor from the U.S. Supreme Court will draw attention to a number of sensitive issues, including the death penalty. The eventual candidate‘s record on this issue will likely face careful examination by the Senate, which votes on high-court nominees.

An Associated Press article July 2 noted that Justice O‘Connor played a key voting role on death penalty cases. Her successor, if seated by the start of the new term in October, would have to decide on four death penalty cases that are pending. The article noted that O‘Connor supported the death penalty, but talked openly about her concerns as to whether it is being imposed fairly.

On March 21 the U.S. bishops‘ conference launched a campaign against capital punishment. "We cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing. We cannot defend life by taking life," argued Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop of Washington, when speaking at the National Press Club, according to a March 21 press release issued by the Episcopal Conference. The initiative, under the title of the "Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty," has its own Web site, www.ccedp.org.

During the press conference launching the campaign, pollster John Zogby reported that support among Catholics for the death penalty has diminished notably. A survey done last November found that 48% of adult Catholics support the use of the death penalty, while 47% oppose it. This is a significant decline in support compared with past years. Moreover, frequent Mass-goers and younger Catholics are less likely to support capital punishment than other Catholics do.

Five countries abolished the death penalty for all crimes in 2004 -- Bhutan, Greece, Samoa, Senegal and Turkey. By year-end, 120 countries had abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

Fr Mike

BLOOD DRIVE RESULTS

Mary Jo Davich from the Memorial Blood Bank sent us the following results of the June 29th Blood Drive at St. Ed’s:

Goal: 23

Registered: 42

No Shows: 7

Cancelled: 1

Turned Away: 0

Walk Ins: 7

Unables: 2

First Time Donors: 5

Deferred: 10

Usable Units: 32 -

EXCEEDED GOAL - outstanding!!

She concludes, "Again, I can‘t thank you enough. Next time we need to book a larger van. Your projection was based on previous drives. Take care and have a wonderful week. Would you like to book another drive possibly in November or January??" I second the thanks.

Please remember that you can also give at two local offices in Bloomington and Eden Prairie. Call 612-871-3300 for information.

Fr Mike