The day after Labor Day, I attended the opening year convocation at the University of St. Thomas. Father Dennis Dease, president of St. Thomas and a close friend, gave what I thought was an instructive and wholesome speech on “civility in our communications.” It was a meaningful and appropriate speech from which many of us could benefit.
After taking phone calls protesting the Minnesota Bishops’ creation of the DVD “Preserving Marriage in Minnesota” and reading many e-mails, there are common presumptions that are repeated again and again, which are simply not accurate.
One of the many wise sayings of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta is: “Never let anyone come to you without coming away better and happier.”
Every human being has a hero to admire and for me it is Mother Teresa. Her impact in my life is so deep that it comes into every sphere of my priestly life and it is contagious to others, young and old.
When you think of “the missions” what images come to mind?
Maybe you are propelled to foreign and remote parts of the world where the people look, talk and act very differently than you.
“I don’t need organized religion.”
I hear that now and again. Or, “I’m not religious. I’m spiritual.”
Sometimes the individual will add that he or she doesn’t see the need of going to church: “I can be spiritual all on my own.”
