How to talk to each other

by John Russell

Happy Sixth Sunday of Easter! Alleluia! Alleluia!

The initial Church had a couple of big questions: Did Christ come for the Gentiles? Do converts have to keep the Law?

In Acts today, Peter has been called by Cornelius the Centurion to explain his faith. This is the end of a sort of dialogue that Peter has been having with the Holy Spirit, who is clearly trying to tell Peter to convert the Gentiles without regard to the law. While this passage in Acts would lead one to believe that that was the end of the matter, more than a decade later, Paul spends half of his letter to the Romans preparing to go to Jerusalem to continue the dialogue with Peter (thank you, Fr Maurice for your timely class on Romans!)

The sixth chapter in Fratelli Tutti, “Dialogue and Friendship in Society,” is about dialogue on difficult matters:

In a pluralistic society, dialogue is the best way to realize what ought always to be affirmed and respected apart from any ephemeral consensus. Such dialogue needs to be enriched and illumined by clear thinking, rational arguments, a variety of perspectives, and the contribution of different points of view. Nor can it exclude the conviction that it is possible to arrive at certain fundamental truths always to be upheld. Once those fundamental values are acknowledged and adopted through dialogue and consensus, we realize that they transcend our concrete situations. Our understanding of their meaning and scope can increase – and in that respect consensus is a dynamic reality – but in themselves they are held to be enduring by virtue of their inherent meaning.

A couple of questions:
What helps you feel able to express your point of view while listening to the other?

What are some of the fundamental truths of human existence that might emerge from dialogue between persons of good will, even if they have diverse perspectives?

Ministry Opportunities
Victoria Ries has volunteered to continue the garden in support of St. Mary’s Food Bank! Yea!!! She had begun tending and caring for it with the help of a couple of volunteers. But she needs your help! If you’re interested, contact her at victoria.ries@comcast.net.

We need someone with a modest familiarity with computers to help Nicole run our livestream equipment. Although we are now celebrating two Masses on Sunday, we still are at less than capacity, and many parishioners are still staying away because the COVID danger is still with us. The livestream is our best way to keep our parish vibrant. If you are able to watch Mass on your computer, you are computer-savvy enough to help. Contact Nicole at nicoles@st-therese.cc.

Ellie Wakefield (a Garfield junior and parishioner) is seeking to a help to make lunches for the Matt Talbot Center. The goal is to provide 30 lunches once a month for the center. She needs three volunteers to make ten lunches each and drop them off at the house of a fourth volunteer who would then drive them downtown to the Matt Talbot Center. Depending on how many people sign up, you may only need to volunteer once every 3-4 months. If you are interested, contact Ellie at ellieawake@gmail.com. (My all-time favorite email address!)

For you newcomers, the MTC ministers to individuals who want to recover from addiction. It was engendered by the Holy Spirit at the same 1981 Cursillo retreat where the Gospel Choir was rooted and is led by former St. T parishioner Greg Alex.

Collections
July 1 - April 29, 2021 $359,574
Where we need to be: $334,015
Last year at this time: $316,043

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