LENTEN PRAYERS

Last Sunday was our Family Mardi Gras. There were several activity stations where families learned about Lent and experienced some aspects of prayer, fasting, and giving.  From all reports it went very well, and participants had much fun.

Lent is a special time of prayer and there was much activity at the special prayer station. Here are some prayers that the children wrote. It's good to know what's in the hearts of our youngest parishioners, so we can pray with them, too, this Lent.

Dear God, thank you for this fun day  Amen.

Dear Lord, thanks for cheze;
make the ecomedemy better and
please pray that my dad finds a job soon.

Dear God  Thank you for every thing you do.
Thanks for PIZZA!

Dear Lord, I wish I could get rid (spelled "ride") of homework
Please give a blessing to Everyone today!

FUNERAL EMAIL NOTIFICATION LIST

As a community of believers, we come to know and appreciate one another in a way that is different from most of the other communities of which we are a part.  Recently, a number of members have expressed their sadness at missing the funeral of a fellow parishioner because they were unaware of his or her death. If you would like to be notified when a death in the parish occurs, send your email address to kklis@stedwardschurch.org   What a marvelous way for all of us to support one another through prayer -- both the person who has passed and those family members who are grieving the loss.

CONGRATULATIONS FATHER JIM

Ash Wednesday, February 25, is a day of fasting and abstinence. But this year it was also a day to celebrate. Father Jim Barry, our weekend associate priest, celebrated his 48th anniversary of ordination. His energy level suggests someone more in the age range of 48. He is an inspiration for me. Congratulations Jim (and we look forward to a very special celebration in two years with you.)

TRANSITIONS

Religion is much in the news lately. The Pope and the Jews. How the religious line up pro-and-con on Charles Darwin. Whether Abraham Lincoln, our most religiously profound president, has anything to say to us today. But these headline stories do little justice to the way our faith impacts our lives on a daily basis.

We have just had eight funerals over a few weeks. Most of those who died and their families were receiving special ministry through our pastoral care programs. With the deaths many more of our parishioners were involved in providing the funeral services, hospitality and lunches. And throughout the
time our community prays for the sick and deceased. The poet, John Donne, wrote, "Do not ask for whom the bell tolls..." Funerals at St. Ed’s are powerful reminders of our connectedness with one another.

This coming Monday night our Tithing Committee meets. Our parish policy is to tithe 10% of our income to works of charity and justice. In these difficult times for our economy what a blessing that we can continue to reach out with care and compassion. Most of the programs we fund also have the active involvement of our parishioners. We are thankful that we can support these efforts.

And just last Monday our parish Job Transition Network has started a special workshop for those seeking employment. Our Human Resource Committee and parish administrator, Rena Chrysler, have worked to make this happen. It is needed. In 30 years of being a priest I have never had such awareness of parishioners who have lost their employment.

This week we also begin Lent. Just 40 days but these too can be days of transition and transformation.

BICENTENNIAL BIRTHDAYS

This past Tuesday was the 200th birth anniversary for both Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. They share the same birthday, February 12, 1809. In many ways their lives could not be more different. Darwin was born into the gentry class of England, received a University education at Cambridge and went on to become a great scientist. Lincoln, of course, was born in a log cabin on the American frontier, had little formal education, and spent his life in the law and politics. One great theme unites them, change and development. Darwin in his voyage around the world saw that change was the one constant in the natural world. Lincoln struggled along with our country over the necessity for and reality of change in the political world and society. Both were open to change, evolving change, and transformed the world around them.

HOUSING NEEDED

Family of 5, parishioners, plus pet, looking for housing on a month to month basis. They can pay a reasonable amount for rent but need to move immediately. Good references. If you can help please make contact 952-944-2431.

SNOW JOBS AND GAS PROBLEMS

I was recently talking to a priest from Florida and I mentioned our snow removal costs for December. He could not believe it. Yes, living in this great state does have its costs. One of our Building and Grounds Committee members, Paul Sticha, who is the Facilities Manager for the City of Eden Prairie informed us that their city had 26 "snow events" in December.  A snow event is any time snow removal contractors plow, shovel, sweep, sand, salt, blow, push, haul, or otherwise manipulate snow and ice. He summed it up, "I got absolutely killed on my December snow removal costs.  January doesn't look much better either.  So it's no surprise at all to me that we are way over budget at St. Ed's - in fact I'd be shocked if somehow we weren't over budget."

Parishioner Paul Tasto from Dakota Plowing and Landscaping does a great job for us. He and his crew really put in the hours keeping our parking lots and sidewalks open. The cold weather and heavy snow has been hard on their equipment.

And with the frigid weather, our head of maintenance, Gene Vavra, got a call the other morning from CenterPoint Energy to switch over from gas to oil in our boiler. He reported that, "over a 24 hour period we burned about 145 gallons, so about 6 gallons per hour." We get a lower natural gas rate because our boiler can use gas or oil, and in very cold weather CenterPoint needs to lower overall gas demand. Right now fuel oil is down to about $1.95 per gallon. It is still more expensive to use than natural gas.

Paul Sticha also sent the following update: "You better tell Fr. Mike and Rena to "fasten their seat belts" and be sitting down when they open the natural gas and electric invoices for November, December and January...Bottom line - cost to heat this year will be higher than last year, and likely will exceed budget too."

When our Administrator, Rena Chrysler, and the Finance Committee of the Parish started the budget process for this year we relied on more recent yearly averages. This year, like the children of Lake Wobegone, seems to be above average. Thank you for your stewardship. You too are above average in your commitment to our parish.

POPE BENEDICT'S MESSAGE TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

Benedict XVI sent a telegram to the new president of the United States, Barack Obama, expressing  good wishes to the 44th U.S. president on the occasion of President Obama's inauguration. The  text of the telegram, personally signed by the Holy Father, follows:

On the occasion of your inauguration as the Forty-fourth president of the United States of America I offer cordial good wishes, together with the assurance of my prayers that the Almighty God will grant you unfailing wisdom and strength in the exercise of your high responsibilities.

Under your leadership may the American people continue to find in their impressive religious and political heritage the spiritual values and ethical principles needed to cooperate in the building of a truly just and free society, marked by respect for the dignity, equality and rights of each of its members, especially the poor, the outcast and those who have no voice.

At a time when so many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world yearn for liberation from the scourge of poverty, hunger and violence, I pray that you will be confirmed in your resolve to promote understanding, cooperation and peace among the nations, so that all may share in the banquet of life which God wills to set for the whole human family (cf. Isaiah 25:6-7). Upon you and your family, and upon all the American people, I willingly invoke the Lord's blessings of joy and peace.

THE GOOD BOOK

On January 20th, President-elect Barack Obama took the oath of office using the same Bible upon which President Lincoln was sworn in at his first inauguration. The Bible belongs to the Library of Congress. Though there is no constitutional requirement for the use of a Bible during the swearing-in, Presidents have traditionally used Bibles for the ceremony, choosing a volume with personal or historical significance. President-elect Obama was the first President sworn in using the Lincoln Bible since its initial use in 1861.

'President-elect Obama is deeply honored that the Library of Congress has made the Lincoln Bible available for use during his swearing-in,' said Presidential Inaugural Committee Executive Director Emmett Beliveau. 'The President-elect is committed to holding an Inauguration that celebrates America's unity, and the use of this historic Bible will provide a powerful connection to our common past and common heritage.' "

The Bible was originally purchased by William Thomas Carroll, Clerk of the Supreme Court, for use during Lincoln's swearing-in ceremony on March 4, 1861. (Lincoln's own family Bible, which is now also in the Library of Congress's collection, was unavailable for the Lincoln's inauguration because it was packed away with the family's belongings, still en route from Springfield, IL, to their new home at the White House.)

Annotated in the back of the volume, along with the Seal of the Supreme Court, is the following: 'I, William Thomas Carroll, clerk of the said court do hereby certify that the preceding copy of the Holy Bible is that upon which the Honble. R. B. Taney, Chief Justice of the said Court, administered to His Excellency, Abraham Lincoln, the oath of office as President of the United States ...' Interestingly, Taney was the first Catholic Chief Justice. Sadly, he wrote the infamous Dred Scott decision which held that no person of African ancestry could claim citizenship in the United States. Interestingly, Taney himself freed his slaves well before the Emancipation Proclamation. I wonder what he would think of an African American president?

MINNESOTA'S INAUGURAL PRAYER CONNECTION

Prior to President Franklin Roosevelt's second inauguration in 1937, there were no inaugural prayers. The only manifestation of religion in the ceremony was the use of a Bible for the swearing in-accompanied by the traditional (but not constitutionally mandated) phrase, "so help me God." Often the new president would kiss the Bible which Hoover did in 1929. In 1937, Roosevelt did not. But in 1937, Roosevelt did add the invocation and benediction prayers. He chose Msgr. John A. Ryan to give the closing benediction.

Ryan was a priest of our Archdiocese and was the foremost proponent of social welfare policies in the American Catholic Church. He was such a national supporter of Roosevelt's policies that he became known as "The Right Reverend New Dealer." Ryan battled Father Charles Coughlin, the notorious Detroit priest whose increasingly anti-Roosevelt, anti-New Deal, and anti-Semitic rants were broadcast coast-to-coast on CBS radio. As a side note, our new Archbishop also comes from Detroit.