Mrs. Isabel Samuels, Mrs. Willie Evelyn Malone (St. Peter Villa)
Jenny Marshall (Willow Bend at Marion Ark Nursing Home)
Mr. Floyd Shavers (Metro Community Care Home)
Ill at Home
Mrs. Audrey Allen, Mr. Herbert Allen, Mr. Joseph Alsandor, Mrs. Annie Hines Atkins, Mrs. Essie Berry, Mrs. Monique Meacham Bethany, Mr. Gerald Bond, Mrs. Lula Crawford, Mr. Robert Crowley, Mrs. Judy Epps, Mrs. Wendy Funches, Mrs. Marshia Gilmore, Mr. Emory Gordon, Mrs. Lottie Gordon, Ms. Jacqueline Guerrero,Mr. William Harris, Mr. Darrell Hollimon, Mr. Willie Hollimon, Mrs. Helen Hoof, Mr. Robert Hooper, Dr. William Johnson, Mrs. Mary M. Jones, Mrs. Teresa Kimbrough, Mrs. Laura Kinchelow, Mrs. Mary Monroe, Mrs. Maurice McDonald, Mrs. Florine McMillan, Mrs. Bobby Redmond, Mr. Frank Reynolds, Mr. Stanley Robinson, Mrs. Allura Tate, Mrs. Forrestine Weed, Mr. Malcolm Weed, Mr. Johnnie Weaver.
Under the Acacia Tree - December 13, 2009
The
Under the Acacia Tree Blog is written by Father John J. Geaney, CSP. This blog appears as an article in the December 13, 2009, St. Augustine Catholic Church bulletin. St. Augustine Catholic Church is located at 1169 Kerr Avenue, Memphis, TN 38106. You can post your comments online. Click comments, below, and speak up!
It works! Every so often I wonder about the value of the many ways we try to reach people through the media. Are we helping people to find Christ when we appeal to them on radio, television or on our website. Well, I have one answer. Recently someone reached out through the internet and told me that they wanted to be Catholic. I answered the email and the person involved has said that they will be coming to Church soon. So, even though it might seem impersonal, one clear way to evangelize is with the net and the proof of the pudding is in the person or persons who will come to the Church because of the website.
There are many things in our lives that might seem to be less worthwhile than we might think in bringing people to Church, but suddenly, and with God’s grace, we find out that the very thing we were questioning really does make a difference. I am convinced and have been for sometime that one of the best opportunities we have for evangelization is a funeral. I’m not for having additional funerals. But when we do have them everyone works so well together to make the funeral hospitable that I know many people are touched and seek to find out what it is that makes St. Augustine special. From our bereavement team who works with the family during the time of their grief to the cooking for the repast that the bereavement committee co-ordinates and all the steps in between, our faith is being expressed to a grieving family and they know it and appreciate it. Sometimes, they appreciate it so much they vow, after having been away from Church for years, that they will come to Church soon. One of the difficulties is that it is not always easy to follow up on the people who make those claims because we get busy. But I still believe that some of the best work we do as evangelizers is the way we are able to celebrate funerals. The fact that we have dedicated servers, ministers of Holy Communion, choir members and first class organists just contributes to the dignity of the celebration and numerous people who have witnessed the funeral as family members tell me that, as do many others I meet along the way in various places including grocery stores, restaurants and gas stations. So, the Lord is leading people to St. Augustine. We just need to welcome them
“One of the natural signs of a true Paulist is that he would prefer to suffer from the excesses of liberty rather than from the arbitrary actions of tyranny.”
Father Isaac Hecker, founder of the Paulist Fathers
