Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time 
Dear Family,
Our prayer to avert storms is working pretty good when the third storm this year, Colette, doesn’t even bother forming near us much less reach hurricane strength. Would we be having storms if we were not saying the prayer? I have no need to test the theory.
Listen closely: “Help us to prepare our hearts and our homes…”Through our prayer we ask God to put us in the best circumstance possible to deal with whatever we have to deal with. It reminds me of the spirit surrounding the Sacrament of the Sick. “Lord, help this person deal with whatever is confronting them, and heal them in whatever way best helps them in their journey to you.”
As usual, so often I start this letter to you and I’m not sure what’
s going to come out. The first thought was Colette, and maybe that was the Spirit reminding me that I wanted to include in this week’s bulletin an insert from the Bishops that is a good summary of the new encyclical from Pope Francis, Laudatio Si. “Praise be to you, my Lord.”
I hope you’ll take the time to read the insert. Perhaps that will lead you to reading the whole encyclical which you can find online at the Vatican website. The encyclical is making a big impression on me, just with the scope of the Holy Father’s vision. It’s monumental and a little breathtaking. How do the parts of the world relate to each other? As human beings we are in the middle of it all. How do we take this broad strokes and understand them in ways they can touch us as individuals? The Bishops came up with five suggestions that can start you on a road of asking yourself, “How do I respond personally to the Holy Father’s issues? I’m going to quit here so you can use the time of your ordinary Twitching to begin walking with Pope Francis.
Definitely better company.
In Jesus,
Fr. Jim
