Dear Parishioners,

Before last Sunday, a remarkable thing happened to the parish: all the buildings other than the Church lost power. Without any warning, a lightning bolt hit a telephone pole that then knocked a wire down which ignited a leaking gas pipe. The gas pipe then exploded and destroyed a transformer. This all occurred just down the street from here. So, for two days after that, we only had partial power in the rectory & offices and former Spiritual Center building. The only reason the Church was able to maintain operations was because it was connected to a different transformer. From this experience, I draw 3 basic lessons.

First, just as we are dependent on electricity to do everything, our spiritual life completely depends on being connected to God. In this week’s Gospel, Jesus calls Himself the true vine because we cannot flourish unless we are attached to Him. If we are without Christ, we wither. God wants us to remain in Him so that we may flourish.

Second, we can never depend on this world working the way we think it should even if it always worked that way. Really, anything can happen in life and nothing is constant except God Himself. So, are we prepared if things go wrong? This goes for personal matters as well. When we are stressed or in trouble, are there people in your life you can depend on for help?

Third, just as I had no inkling that I would lose power that morning, we will never know when exactly God will call us to Himself. That is why we should always be prepared to meet God. People will always say they have time to live a good life, repent, or pray later. But the truth is we only have the present moment to love God. So, if we are not loving Him in what we are doing now, we are not preparing ourselves to see Him. Hopefully, that day is far off. But it could even happen today. So, we ought to be prepared.

In case anyone is wondering, I was perfectly okay. I managed to get everything I needed to do done, even without internet access. Really, the worst thing about the experience was eating cold food because the microwave didn’t work. So, thanks be to God for that

God Bless and Happy Sunday!

Fr. Carter