James on the Dangers of Being Rich

The rich? Miserable? O that I should have such miseries!

But the fact of the matter is, on the scale of the global standard of living, we’re all rich. I have a friend, an Iraqi, who came to the U.S. to go to school as a young man and had a long career as a Boeing engineer. During the war against the Islamic State, his sisters and their families went to live in caves. His opinion: “We all live like kings.”

A few years ago, Ann and I attended a retreat on Mother Teresa directed by Fr. Bob Fabing. Bob for many years directed the 30-day silent retreat which is required of Jesuits. One year, one of his retreatants was a Brother of Charity from Calcutta who wrangles Bob into directing a retreat for their community. So Bob finds himself with Mother Teresa in her garden, and she asks him what he does. He explains that he directs the Jesuit Institute for Family Life, an international network of counseling centers. She says, “You’ve got a tougher job than I do.” Bob replies, “How is that?” and Mother says, “I give some food to someone hungry on the street, and they say, ‘Oh, thank you, Mother!’ You’re ministering to people don’t even know they’re hungry!”

Which presents us with our challenge as we try to evangelize in secular Seattle. We need to reach out to those whose gold and silver have corroded. We need to be reaching out to the divorced, those coping with addictions, those beaten down by the relentless pace of modern life, and we need to embrace them with God’s love.

If you would like to help St. Therese express God’s love, please look at the list of ministries and talents that are on the home page of st-therese.cc. If you have questions, please ask Diane at paa@st-therese.cc or Nicole at nicoles@st-therese.cc. Please let Diane know how you would like to support your parish with your time and talents.

Thank you to all who helped on our Tiny House Project! Construction is expected to be completed by September 26. The house will be blessed during the St. Therese Feast Day Celebration on October 3, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. and moved to one of the Low Income Housing Institute’s Tiny House Villages soon thereafter. Thanks also to Brian Lenz of Walsh Construction for construction supervision and many local businesses for supplies. Donations to both the Tiny House Project and to St. Vincent’s can be made from the home page of st-therese.cc.

Ministry Opportunities
Do you have expertise with online marketing? The Stewardship Commission is looking to put together a digital outreach team and could need your help! If you can serve, please contact John Russell at jvrussell85@gmail.com.

We also need photographers for parish outreach! If you are good with asking people if you can take their picture, your phone will take care of the rest. Contact Diane at paa@st-therese.cc.

To help run our livestream equipment, contact Nicole at nicoles@st-therese.cc. The livestream is not a nice to-do. It’s a must-do and Nicole needs your help!

Parish Collections
This fiscal year July 1, 2021 – September 23, 2021.….... $78,057
The budget….….                                                                   $83,000
Last year at this time….….                                                   $78,550