St. Patrick Parish recently issued the following announcement.

It is the Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Sirach reflects on how difficult it is for mere mortals to forgive others even as they ask the Lord to forgive them. He observes that people are included to “hug tight” or “cherish” wrath and anger. They seem to enjoy holding grudges and keeping the memory of offenses alive. And so, Sirach warns them that if they do not grant mercy to others they will suffer the Lord’s vengeance. This is especially undesirable since the Lord sees the harmful ripple effects that a single sin sets off, and he will punish accordingly. To further persuade them, he urges them to think of their last days on earth. Those who want a happy death must do more than think about being merciful. 

They must immediately set aside all hostility, stop obsessing about vengeance, and ignore the faults of others. In the preceding verses, Paul addresses the problem of Christians judging other Christians. This apparent need to criticize others is dividing the community. To break this habit, Paul draws their attention to the essential truth that unites them, namely, that Christ died and came back to life so that each of them could live and die in him. A baptized person is never alone. He or she is born to live in and for the Lord. This call unites all believers. But then he goes on to remind them that though they are never alone in this life, they will stand alone before the judgment seat of God and give an account of how they spent their time on earth. 

In chapter 18, Matthew sets out Jesus’ teachings on life in a Christian community. Most of his discourse elaborates the statement from the Our Father, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The gospel draws attention to the emotions that either facilitate or impede one’s forgiveness of another. Peter’s question of how many times do I have to forgive conveys the frustration felt by people who forgive others repeatedly. When can they stop? When will God be satisfied? “Never. Don’t keep track,” is Paul’s response. The story of the servant who is forgiven and then goes out and beats another servant. Why doesn’t he forgive also as he experienced? When the others see this they are deeply bothered. The verb used by Matthew puts holding a grudge and seeing revenge on the same level of evil as murder, adultery, theft, false witness, etc. We are restoring the exterior woodwork on the entry to the rectory to discover that it is a rare wood called Tiger Oak. 

It is absolutely beautiful and they painted over it!! We discovered that all of the exterior window frames on the rectory are made of the same oak, and again they painted it!!! In the entrance door there are seven different pieces of work to form the ornamentation. 

The Cauley brothers built the rectory out of their own pocket and spared no expense. I paid our School taxes during the month of September, and the total paid this year was $4,636.18. We are normally open Mon-Thurs, but with the Covid pandemic, everything is so quiet, that the office staff have been working from home on Thursdays. All parishioners should have received a letter from me which included our 2019/20 Financial Report now that we have closed the fiscal year. AgainI cannot thank you enough for your overwhelming generosity. I noted in that letter that income is down about 25% in most of our parishes with the Covid shutdown, and againyour generosity makes St. Patrick’s a complete exception to that. I hope you know my gratitude. You make my work much easier. The room was full of pregnant women with their husbands. The instructor said, “Ladies, remember this exercise is good for you. Walking is essentially beneficial. It strengthens the pelvic muscles and will make delivery that much easier. 

Just pace yourself, make plenty of stops and try to stay on a soft surface, like grass. Gentlemen, rememberyou’re in this together. It wouldn't hurt you to go walking with her. In fact, the shared experience would be good for both of you.” The room suddenly became very quiet as the men absorbed this information. After a few moment, a man at the back of the room slowly raised his hand. “Yes,” said the instructor. “I was just wondering if it would be all right if she carries a golf bag?”

Original source can be found here.