CALL TO ACTION CONFERENCE:
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15

Call to Action or CTA is a church reform movement that was actually started by the bishops of the United States in 1976. CTA seeks greater accountability in the Catholic Church and provides workshops on current church issues. On November 15, here at St. Edwards, CTA is having its Fall Conference.

The focus this year is on promoting vibrant faith communities. Sister Chris Schenk from Cleveland will give the morning's keynote address: "Do not Stifle the Spirit." She just returned from Rome where she was instrumental in achieving the active participation of women in the recent Synod of Bishops on the Bible.  Writer Joe Bailey will speak in the afternoon.

Registration begins at 8:15 AM with the program lasting from 9 AM until 3:30 PM. Pre-registration is required for the catered lunch which costs $16. Contact: Connie Aligada caligada@yahoo.com or call Judy at 612-987-6825 or Sharon at 651-457-3249.

SPEAKING OF VIBRANT FAITH COMMUNITIES

My brother in law, Keith, was here with my sister Katharyn for our Dad's funeral last week. Keith belongs to the Unitarian Church. Keith was impressed by the size of our congregation. He made the quick calculation that with 5,000 registered members St Ed’s would make up about 3% of the total Unitarian membership in the United States. On the other hand, I am rather impressed that Keith worships in a church building built in 1755.

AMERICA VOTES

Of course this coming Tuesday is Election Day. The right to vote is one of our greatest treasures and responsibilities. It came to my attention that last year over 64 million people voted for the American Idol contest on TV. This is more votes than any United States president has received. And let us pray for all the candidates and their families as we conclude the electoral process. Whatever our differences of opinion, these people make sacrifices to serve us. May God bless America and may our country be a blessing for others.

MESSAGE FROM THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF MINNESOTA

Our Catholic Bishops remind us, "As we approach the elections, we renew our call for a new kind of politics-focused on moral principles not on the latest polls, on the needs of the poor and vulnerable not the contributions of the rich and powerful, and on the pursuit of the common good not the demands of special interests." Don't forget to exercise your right and vote on November 4.

A LIVING MEMORIAL

Parishioner Sue Kellett has returned to Nicaragua to visit our sister parish in Jinotega. When she was last there in August, Sue encountered a most horrendous situation. A woman named Jovina was living at the Jinotega city dump with her  4 young children. They lived off whatever they could find in the dump. Her left arm was horribly disfigured when her former husband tried to chop off her arm with a machete. At that time Sue was able to arrange temporary housing. They now have a bed, cooking things, clothes, shoes, food, tortillas and hope. Jovina now knows that people care about her and we will be there for her. We hope to help provide an operation for her to restore her arm.

On her current trip one of Sue's main goals was to find permanent housing for Jovina. A home (basically a one room structure) was found that is in a safe neighborhood and is for sale for $4,000. As it turned out, the memorials given to St. Ed’s in memory of my father, Bill, come to about $4,000. We will dedicate the memorials for this purpose. I think that my Dad would love this.

My family again wants to thank you all for your concern and support as we celebrated Dad's funeral last Monday. I certainly thank God for you and our great staff.

PRAYER OF ST. TERESA OF AVILA

May you have peace within today.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing that you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of you who choose to claim it. Amen.

OUR PEOPLE

Parishioner Sue Marks told me a lovely story coming from her Irish ancestry. With the tendency to be indirect, the question an Irishman asks as he proposes marriage is, "Would you like to be buried with my people?"

Every Autumn as we approach the feasts of All Saints and All Souls days, it is a time for us to remember "our people." Next weekend we celebrate All Hollow's Eve, All Saints Day and All Souls Day. In fact, the mass for All Souls Day replaces the usual Sunday liturgies. Throughout the masses of November we remember our deceased loved ones. We also give out the We Remember booklet which recalls those parishioners who have passed into eternal life this past year. We might not personally know them but they are part of us and remain part of us through the communion of saints.

Each of them have lovely stories, too. We remember them, and give thanks.

This also gives me the opportunity to thank those connected with providing this booklet. Fr. Marty Shallbetter saw something like this at another church. Marie Bouquet took this project on and enlisted Jim Keeler to do layout and publishing. After years of doing this Jim handed this loving task over to Mary Pat Deering and Jean Kirchberg. Thank you, Jim, and all involved.


BLOOD DRIVE THIS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28

Thanks to all who give the miracle of life by donating your blood. An article by Natalie Angier in the October 20th New York Times, titled, "The Wonder of Blood," really expresses this miracle:

Our blood is the foundation of our very existence as multicellular animals, said Andrew Schafer, a professor at Weill Cornell Medical College and the outgoing president of the American Society of Hematology. Blood is the one tissue that comes into contact with every other tissue of the body, and it is through blood that our disparate parts communicate, through blood that our organs cooperate. Without a circulatory system, there would be no internal civilization, no means of ensuring orderly devotion to the common cause that is us.

"It's an enormous communications network," Dr. Schafer said - the original cellphone system, if you will, 100 trillion users strong.

Donating blood is the ultimate expression of being a blood brother or sister.

SEMINARY COLLECTION

The St. Paul Seminary, our Archdiocesan seminary, is conducting a capital campaign to fund its endowment. This weekend parishes are to promote this fund. Large gifts have already been sought from Foundations and selected donors. Now the invitation to participate is extended to all in the Archdiocese. Donation brochures with attached envelopes will be at the church exits.

Obviously, this is a very difficult economy during which to conduct the collection. In addition, there are some questions that should be addressed about the Seminary itself. Actually the Seminary is now part of the University of St. Thomas which has huge endowment assets. The University took over the Seminary some years ago and in exchange received extremely valuable property which St. Thomas has since developed for the University's benefit. The University should bear more of the burden for the Seminary's operating expenses.

According to the Seminary campaign, the annual cost to educate and house a seminarian is $50,000, half of which comes from tuition, room and board paid by the diocese. The seminary must raise the remaining $25,000 per seminarian through charitable gifts and its endowment.

Currently, 66 men from 14 dioceses are in formation at The Saint Paul Seminary. This is a rather low number of Seminarians and the numbers are only as large as they are because in recent years the Seminary has taken students from more outside dioceses. Indeed, only 30 of the seminarians are studying for the Archdiocese so that the remaining 36 are funded by their dioceses just at the $25,000 level. This is a huge subsidy ($900,000) for these 36 seminarians which the Seminary has to cover. If the Seminary is to continue as a regional Seminary then the other dioceses must be more involved in the total cost of seminarian training.

It should be noted that 30 years ago when I was in the Seminary we had over 100 students and they came from fewer dioceses. Of the stated 66 men now in formation, three or four of them are on leaves or otherwise not on campus. An additional four are from Ghana and are on full scholarships. So the real number of American seminarians is something just shy of 60. Contrary to the Seminary's PR, this is about the lowest enrollment ever.

Actually the number has been fairly low over the last decade.  And this represents students spread out over the course of six years (two years of pre-theology), and that many of the pre-theologians eventually leave to do theology studies elsewhere if they continue.  Thirty seminarians for our own Archdiocese sounds fairly good, until one recalls that this is five per year.  Not so bad compared to others, I guess, but certainly no turning around of trends of the recent past.

On the other hand, nationally, lay students in similar graduate theology programs in universities such as St John’s, St Catherine’s, St Mary’s, etc., who are preparing to do ministry in Catholic parishes, outnumber the seminarian numbers almost 10 fold. We need more resources here.

MY GRATITUDE
As most of you know, and as I shared as Mass last weekend, my father after a long illness passed away on October 5. Last Sunday's reading from St. Paul has him thanking the Philippians, saying, "...it was kind of you to share in my distress." I feel the same sense of gratitude for your many kind words,
cards and hugs. God bless you all.

LOAVES & FISHES AND VEAP

For years, parishioners volunteer to serve in the Loaves & Fishes meal program at two locations, St. Stephen’s Parish in south Minneapolis and Creekside Community Center here in Bloomington. Ralph Bartolotta with the Creekside volunteers sends out a monthly update. Here is what he just reported: "We saw a sharp increase in guests for this month. We served 180 guests compared to our average of about 135. We noticed an increased number of families, both two parent and single parent. We had 7 volunteer preparers and 20 servers."  With the downturn in our national economy the need for such programs is growing. Thank you to all who help out. This is truly a gospel based ministry going back to Jesus own sharing of the loaves and fishes.

Just a day before I received the following message from Susan Freeman who heads VEAP, our local emergency service provider and food shelf:

To our Clergy,

Your help is needed! I had hoped never to send something like this.

I'd like to think VEAP is always ahead of the issues of the day and responding to needs in the community with a well-planned program. This month caught us off guard however.

Unprecedented increase in numbers requesting help - almost 5,000 people last month alone - a 25% increase from last year. An alarming lack of donations, down from last year by more than 20%. Everyone has been affected by the economy. So, we are in a word. SHORT

An additional food drive right now collecting the following items will make a vital impact on those VEAP serves!

Five most needed items:  Rice  -  Pasta  -  Boxed Dinners [Hamburger Helper]  -  Tuna  -  Baking items [Biscuit/Pancake Mix].

Your support can make a real difference in the lives of our neighbors struggling during these hard times.

Thank you for your support, and please visit our website at http://www.veapvolunteers.org/