I witnessed something today that is becoming all too common, and quite honestly, really ticks me off!!!
I live and work near the intersection of Dewey & Ridgeway Avenues in the city, where there is a very large, very busy firehouse. Today, during the evening "rush-hour" Engine 10, was traveling eastbound on Ridgeway, lights and sirens, air-horn blasting, and
NO ONE WAS PULLING OVER TO THE RIGHT!!!!
It makes me nutty!!! These brave men and women are trying to do their jobs, and they do not need inconsiderate people on the road making it harder for them to get to where they are going!
I see this all too often with all emergency vehicles. It seems that everyone is always in such a hurry that they forget basic driving etiquette, as well as traffic law!
So, on this feast of St. Michael, let us ask him, the protector and defender of the faith, as well as the patron for police officers, St. Florian, patron of firefighters and St. Ignatius Loyola, patron of soldiers, to protect these brave men and women as they do their jobs.
And people, let us always remember,
"There is no greater love than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."
Police officers, firefighters, and all the members of our military services do this everyday, for their friends and for perfect strangers, we the people of the community!
Please let us keep them in our prayers and do what we can to keep them safe!
Peace to all!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
"Pearls of Sophia"
The Greeks personified wisdom in the feminine as Sophia.
This will be an on-going feature of my blog as I find little pearls of wisdom that I believe should be shared.
And now for the first of many "pearls"~
"Prayer is the loving-attentiveness to the mystery within us."
This will be an on-going feature of my blog as I find little pearls of wisdom that I believe should be shared.
And now for the first of many "pearls"~
"Prayer is the loving-attentiveness to the mystery within us."
John Main, OSB
Having recently started the 19th Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, I find this to be a true "gem" of wisdom.
For who's glory?
My former spiritual director, a priest, once asked me a very powerful question-
"Do you want to be a priest(ess)because that is what you believe God is calling you to, or because the "institution" says you cannot be?"
I will confess, my first thought was, "typical, arrogant male attitude".
Yet, for whatever reason (the Holy Spirit at work?), this exchange from over a year ago has been playing through my mind like a movie. And now, I see where this very wise man was leading me with his question. I will say that the journey has not always been a pleasant one, there have been plenty of pot-holes and detours along the way, and it has brought me to a place where I believe that I can now answer that question.
Growing up in the 70's & 80's, I was taught that I could do anything that I set my mind to- whether it was being the president, an astronaut, a firefighter, a teacher, etc. Being female should not and would not exclude me from seeking what I desire. I got very wrapped up in the feminist movement and believed that all barriers needed to be broken allowing women to pursue any goals that they wanted. It was a very secular, self-centered attitude, and one of the plethora of reasons that I ended up leaving the church for nearly 15 years.
When I returned to the church, one of my primary motivations for becoming involved and attending classes at SBSTM was so that I could help to "change the system" from the inside.
During a particularly difficult time in my life, which caused a deep crisis of faith for me, some friends suggested that I talk to this particular priest, who subsequently became my spiritual director.
It was through the teaching and example of this very holy man, that I now find, with much difficulty and humility that I have accepted the fact that he hit the proverbial nail on the head with his question.
Did I want to be a priest(ess) for God's glory, or for my own?
Surprisingly, the answer was it was for my own glory. It is very humbling for me to say that, and the shift in my attitude has taken me more by surprise than anyone I have shared these thoughts with.
What I have learned, through prayer, spiritual direction, and much reflection on my life as an American woman, who happens to be Catholic is, is that nothing I do should be for my glory, and all I do should be for God's glory!
Priestly ordination is not a "prize" to be obtained. It is a call to the holiness that is "In persona Christi", the living embodiment of Jesus on earth, in all his humanity and all his male-ness.
"Do you want to be a priest(ess)because that is what you believe God is calling you to, or because the "institution" says you cannot be?"
I will confess, my first thought was, "typical, arrogant male attitude".
Yet, for whatever reason (the Holy Spirit at work?), this exchange from over a year ago has been playing through my mind like a movie. And now, I see where this very wise man was leading me with his question. I will say that the journey has not always been a pleasant one, there have been plenty of pot-holes and detours along the way, and it has brought me to a place where I believe that I can now answer that question.
Growing up in the 70's & 80's, I was taught that I could do anything that I set my mind to- whether it was being the president, an astronaut, a firefighter, a teacher, etc. Being female should not and would not exclude me from seeking what I desire. I got very wrapped up in the feminist movement and believed that all barriers needed to be broken allowing women to pursue any goals that they wanted. It was a very secular, self-centered attitude, and one of the plethora of reasons that I ended up leaving the church for nearly 15 years.
When I returned to the church, one of my primary motivations for becoming involved and attending classes at SBSTM was so that I could help to "change the system" from the inside.
During a particularly difficult time in my life, which caused a deep crisis of faith for me, some friends suggested that I talk to this particular priest, who subsequently became my spiritual director.
It was through the teaching and example of this very holy man, that I now find, with much difficulty and humility that I have accepted the fact that he hit the proverbial nail on the head with his question.
Did I want to be a priest(ess) for God's glory, or for my own?
Surprisingly, the answer was it was for my own glory. It is very humbling for me to say that, and the shift in my attitude has taken me more by surprise than anyone I have shared these thoughts with.
What I have learned, through prayer, spiritual direction, and much reflection on my life as an American woman, who happens to be Catholic is, is that nothing I do should be for my glory, and all I do should be for God's glory!
Priestly ordination is not a "prize" to be obtained. It is a call to the holiness that is "In persona Christi", the living embodiment of Jesus on earth, in all his humanity and all his male-ness.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Catholic Ministry Appeal??
I have long had issues with the CMA. It is a very big conflict for me because I do indeed benefit from it. I would not be able to attend classes at SBSTM if it were not for the scholarships and tuition-assistance that I receive, and I am grateful for the support.
I am not so naïve that I don’t realize that money is a necessary evil. My problem is, if you (in this case the DOR) are going to ask me for more money, I want to make sure that you spending it wisely. I have seen lots of waste in the “day to day” operations of parishes that I have been involved with. I work in Health Care Management, and it is a struggle to provide the services needed and stay within my budget, and I try hard to keep my administrative costs low so that the majority of my budget goes to direct patient needs. Unfortunately this is not was happens with the CMA. Here is the breakdown from the DOR website-
2009-2010 CMA Allocations
(A)Faith Formation 10%Sacramental preparation, Adult Education, Campus, CYO Young Adult and Youth Ministry Programs
(B)Catholic Schools 5%Support for programs, aid to students and schools
(C)Catholic Charities 13%Support for the 10 regional offices / agencies serving people throughout our 12 counties.
(D)Parish Support Ministries 18%Liturgical, Urban, Rural, Multicultural & Jail Services, Subsidies & Programs
(E)Human Resources 4%Staff recruitment & training, support to St. Bernard School of Theology & Ministry
(F)Bishop's Ministry / Pastoral Planning 10% Bishop's Office, consultative councils and planning services
(G)Diocesan-wide Administrative & Support Services 19% Hospital Chaplaincy, Stewardship, Finance, Information Technology, etc.
(H)Pastoral Center Operation & Services 15% Operational and system costs of the diocesan offices
(I)CMA Campaign Costs 6% Campaign staff, materials, data processing and postage
Total Goal: $5,490,000
I have added the letters for reference, so now let’s look at this-
A-B-C-D, I think we can all agree that these are important ministries of any diocese, and I will call them as such.
E-F-G-H-I are for the most part, what I believe to be administrative (with the exceptions of Hospital Chaplaincy, if this is not ministry, I am not sure what is anymore, and support to STSTM for the reasons stated above.)
So let’s do a little arithmetic!
A+B+C+D= 46%
Which leaves 54% of the money donated to the Catholic Ministries Appeal actually going to administrative costs?
Add to this the whole process for coming up with individual parish goals (based on last year’s collections), and the fact that the individual parish has to make up for any short-fall, and only gets to keep 50% of any overage collected! And finally, there is no real input from the people of the Diocese as to how this money is actually spent (as far as I know)!
Now, I know that this is overly simplified, but it doesn’t change that if you are going to call something a “ministry appeal” shouldn’t the money collected actually go to ministry and not to the administrative costs of the Bishop’s office, the Pastoral Center, IT and Human Resources, and the cost of the actual campaign itself?!
And the fact the admistrative costs associated with the CMA is higher than the allotment for Catholic schools is just plain WRONG!
As I said before, I understand that it is important that we support our churches and our diocese. I am not sure how I would accomplish this, but I really think that the right thing to do for all involved is to prayerfully consider what exactly you are asking for and then do so with honesty and humility.
Our Diocese (and the world) would be a much better place if we all could!
Peace to All!
I am not so naïve that I don’t realize that money is a necessary evil. My problem is, if you (in this case the DOR) are going to ask me for more money, I want to make sure that you spending it wisely. I have seen lots of waste in the “day to day” operations of parishes that I have been involved with. I work in Health Care Management, and it is a struggle to provide the services needed and stay within my budget, and I try hard to keep my administrative costs low so that the majority of my budget goes to direct patient needs. Unfortunately this is not was happens with the CMA. Here is the breakdown from the DOR website-
2009-2010 CMA Allocations
(A)Faith Formation 10%Sacramental preparation, Adult Education, Campus, CYO Young Adult and Youth Ministry Programs
(B)Catholic Schools 5%Support for programs, aid to students and schools
(C)Catholic Charities 13%Support for the 10 regional offices / agencies serving people throughout our 12 counties.
(D)Parish Support Ministries 18%Liturgical, Urban, Rural, Multicultural & Jail Services, Subsidies & Programs
(E)Human Resources 4%Staff recruitment & training, support to St. Bernard School of Theology & Ministry
(F)Bishop's Ministry / Pastoral Planning 10% Bishop's Office, consultative councils and planning services
(G)Diocesan-wide Administrative & Support Services 19% Hospital Chaplaincy, Stewardship, Finance, Information Technology, etc.
(H)Pastoral Center Operation & Services 15% Operational and system costs of the diocesan offices
(I)CMA Campaign Costs 6% Campaign staff, materials, data processing and postage
Total Goal: $5,490,000
I have added the letters for reference, so now let’s look at this-
A-B-C-D, I think we can all agree that these are important ministries of any diocese, and I will call them as such.
E-F-G-H-I are for the most part, what I believe to be administrative (with the exceptions of Hospital Chaplaincy, if this is not ministry, I am not sure what is anymore, and support to STSTM for the reasons stated above.)
So let’s do a little arithmetic!
A+B+C+D= 46%
Which leaves 54% of the money donated to the Catholic Ministries Appeal actually going to administrative costs?
Add to this the whole process for coming up with individual parish goals (based on last year’s collections), and the fact that the individual parish has to make up for any short-fall, and only gets to keep 50% of any overage collected! And finally, there is no real input from the people of the Diocese as to how this money is actually spent (as far as I know)!
Now, I know that this is overly simplified, but it doesn’t change that if you are going to call something a “ministry appeal” shouldn’t the money collected actually go to ministry and not to the administrative costs of the Bishop’s office, the Pastoral Center, IT and Human Resources, and the cost of the actual campaign itself?!
And the fact the admistrative costs associated with the CMA is higher than the allotment for Catholic schools is just plain WRONG!
As I said before, I understand that it is important that we support our churches and our diocese. I am not sure how I would accomplish this, but I really think that the right thing to do for all involved is to prayerfully consider what exactly you are asking for and then do so with honesty and humility.
Our Diocese (and the world) would be a much better place if we all could!
Peace to All!
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