Our Lady of Lourdes

September 3, 2023

Dear Mom and Dad,

As I write this, I hope Idalia, has brought us some rain, but no damage. It is so important to have rain, but we don’t need the destruction hurricanes often bring. With the increase of hurricane intensity, we certainly need to plan a better infrastructure, and home codes when building. I see stick construction going up on the west side of town and can’t help to think to myself what are we thinking? I know wafer board is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than plywood, but I also know perhaps not a good idea in a coastal community. I think we learned this from the story of the 3 little pigs. Sometimes we can be penny wise and pound foolish.

Our air conditioner was out due to the corrosion of critical parts because of the salt air. I know we tend to think our air conditioner is “new”, but we got it over 4 years ago and forget it was pre Covid. That salt air really wreaks havoc on air systems. It wasn’t too bad, but I hope it is up and running this week.

This is the “house meeting” season before the Community Problems Assembly on Monday, October 30th. This year the CPA is at Allen Chapel at 6:30 PM. I am very grateful that we have a way to “do justice” rather than just sing about it or say it. Most communities I know are not really active at what love looks like in public, which is justice.

I heard from folks that they didn’t like FAITH, because we are not respected by some, and affordable housing is not a winnable issue. What people don’t realize are some of our “wins” and yes being a prophet sometimes (all the time) encounters opposition. But also, this is “our” organization and people need to be involved to make us the organization we want to be. House meetings are extremely important because we get to know each other and we also connect injustice to real people. Injustice isn’t something about those people but people we know.

I will be out of the office next week at our yearly convocation with my brother priests and the Bishop.

We are really trying to think about who to invite that we know to back to church Sunday on September 17th. Our focus needs to be on those who perhaps have felt wounded by the church. Very often I encounter folks who experienced divorce and feel excluded from the church, so they just stop coming. l know our LGBTQ+ community and their family and friends struggle with feeling a sense of belonging, BUT they always have a place here at Our Lady of Lourdes. We certainly need to spread the good news of our community and God’s love and how we love the God we cannot see by loving the neighbor we can. We also can share that “love” means more than just a word, but it means willing the good of the other And ACTING on it. We love through charity, service, and justice-building the kingdom of God in our community.

On September 23rd, I am having a workshop for people who are interested in becoming ministers of Holy Eucharist. People are making a commit- ment to this ministry for 5 years. Mandates from the bishop can be renewed for another 5 years with pastoral necessity. My hope is to get more people involved in this ministry.

Our Lady of Lourdes is alive and continuing to grow. In addition to our young family ministry, we have a young adult ministry run by Seth. They will be hosting a get together on Friday, September 8th at 7 PM on the patio. Hillary and I will be hosting a young family get together on Friday, October 13th at 6 PM. We hope to see our families with newly baptized children there.

I want to remind folks to write to our Governor and let him know we want a stay of execution for Michael Zack. He says he is doing this because his constituents want this… We need to let him know that is not true.

I guess that is all for now. Love,
Philip