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Wednesday – St. Bonaventure    Gospel – Matthew 11:25-27 Carrying the Load St. Joseph Church, Norris TN The social hall here at St. Joseph Church in Norris, TN also doubles as the overflow area for Sunday Masses.   We just set up folding chairs to handle the crowd,   And during the summer months, we do get a lot of “lake people’, visitors spending their vacation in the area.   It’s an unwritten rule that, after Mass, everyone folds up their chair and puts it away, clearing the hall in a matter of minutes.   Last Sunday, after Mass, I noticed one little boy, probably 3 or 4 years old, dutifully fold his chair and store it away.   What impressed me was that no one directed him to do it; he just went about the task like normal.   Mind you, that chair was easily a foot taller than him.   And yet he just dragged it like it was nothing.   Such a good example for all of us.   He did his share; he shouldered the burden easily and ha...
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  Tuesday – Feast of St. Kateri Tekakwitha Gospel – Matthew 25: 1-13 (Readings from Common of Virgins) Stay Awake!   Be Prepared! St. Kateri   Center Chapel, Chicago   As many of you know, even though Ginger and I are now living in Tennessee, I continue to serve as the Permanent Deacon for the Native American community at the St. Kateri Center in the Archdiocese of Chicago, although on a rather limited basis (thank you, frequent flyer miles). We celebrate today the feast of St. Kateri Tekakwitha.   To give you a little background. Kateri was born to an Algonquin-Mohawk tribe in upstate New York in 1656. When she was a child, smallpox hit her village; her mother, father and brother all died.    She survived but the smallpox left her partially blind, weak and her face permanently scarred and blistered the rest of her life. She often went out in public with a blanket to hide her scars.  She was adopted by her uncle and at the age of 10 the vi...
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  Monday - 15 th Week in Ordinary Time Gospel – Matthew 10:34 – 11:1 Been There!   But Have I Done That? Praying in the Church of Holy Sepulchre If you’re like me, you’re reading today’s Gospel and it’s like, wait a minute, didn’t we just recently proclaim this Gospel?   As a matter of fact, YES, 2 weeks ago, 13 th Sunday of Ordinary Time.   On that Sunday, I reflected on the countless times, over the past 2 years, that Ginger and I have been recipients of many acts of kindness from our SRB Chicago and our St Joseph family here in Tennessee.   A home-cooked meal, a get-well card, phone calls and texts, simple acts of kindness!   And I challenged you to reflect on your last act of kindness, your reaching out to someone in need! So what now?     It’s been 2 weeks since that reflection.   Maybe this is the perfect time to look back on the past 2 weeks and examine our spiritual journey!   What’s changed?   Have you changed? ...
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