Need to Sell a Pilot Project?

At my first staff meeting yesterday, I presented on a new idea for an event that I had at the end of last year. It is to be a Lenten series on Interreligious dialogue where we have speakers from other faiths come speak to our parish or a group would go visit a local mosque or synagogue. When I first brought up the idea at a Christian Formation Committee meeting, the idea was met with a lot of doubt and skepticism by the members. I took their suggestions and contemplated over the past several weeks on how to present it to staff when I got back.

But I knew this time, I needed to learn from the master of creative advertising, Don Draper from the emmy-winning "Mad Men". While Gen's sister gave me a lot of grief the other day for watching this supposedly scandalous show, what we can take away from Don Draper is on how to persuade people to "buy our products". This is how to present to a skeptical crowd. He's the best at what he does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2bLNkCqpuY


So I learned from Don Draper, presented my pilot project, and my staff loved it. They are all for it now. Thanks Don Draper!

1st day in DE

Things that happened on my first day:

1. I saw camels on my drive to work.
2. People were excited to see me and my mentor Sr. Catherine was pessimistic and sassy.
3. May implied that my summer was a vacation until I reminded them I was in school all summer.
4. My car died on my way home from work. (Tae was a saint and helped me out!)

Interesante...hoping for a better day 2!

P to the S...cool new website on the new translation of the mass which will roll out in ~2years: http://www.usccb.org/romanmissal/ HUGE catechetical opportunity!

Prayers for the Bish

Some of you might remember that during our closing Mass of the summer, Jerry prayed for our Bishop. We recently received this blog post (yep - our Bish has a blog!) from a diocesan staff member updating us on his situation. Please keep him in your prayers as he continues to heal and recover.

(The day we prayed for him at our Echo Mass was on Wednesday, August 5th, when he was at his worst. It looks like our prayers helped the first time, so let's keep 'em comin'!)

Where in the World have you Been?

On July 27th as you know, I was operated on for the removal of a suspicious polyp in my right colon. The operation was, for all intents and purposes, very successful, and my progress to returning to full health was going very well. In fact, it appeared that I would be going home in a matter of days. That turned out not to be the Lord’s plan for me. One of the remaining challenges in modern medicine is the control of infection, and I fell victim to something called sepsis. I have no memory of anything after Wednesday night, August 5th, so what I now will relay to you is the experience of my family, friends, and caregivers. With a very skilled medical and nursing team, I was rushed into surgery for a second time on Thursday, August 6th. The consequences were so challenging that my nephew Christopher felt it necessary to convene the family as my life seemed to teeter minute-by-minute, and hour-by-hour. Again through the work of a very highly skilled team of Doctors and Nurses, it slowly became clear that more is expected of my life, than to have passed away at that moment. In the intervening days my strength has returned; although I believe that I have not yet reached 50% of what is necessary to return home. I will spare you all the unnecessary and personal details except to say that when one is so sick and death seems so immanent that the love of family, faith, and the prayer of others is an important part of the healing process.

We have tried to keep my whereabouts as closely contained as possible simply to allow time for me to regain my strength, and, quite frankly, to keep the hospital staff from being besieged by flowers, cards, and other things which are gratefully received at the Pastoral Center Office, and which will be acknowledged when I am well again. This has imposed severe limitations on many people who would like to come and express their interest and love. I apologize for this, but I do not believe that it would be possible for me to be where I am today, were it not for the restrictions and privacy that I and those attending me needed.

I believe that I most likely have two more weeks remaining in the hospital, and then a period of rehabilitation. I also face a third surgery at some uncertain date in the future. However, I believe the worst is truly over, the Lord’s will for my life has been made manifest, and I can only promise that the gift of life given to me will be shared in greater abundance with all of you when I am well. Thank you for your prayers, your love and your support.

And the first apprentice back to work is...

It’s been an eventful week since I last saw you!

Went to Josh Schaffner’s Wedding
Laughed at a TWSS joke IN THE HOMILY
Opened the Echo house as a hotel for half a dozen wedding guests
Met the new Lalanne teachers that I’ll be living with
Visited Saint Barnabas for Mass
Cleaned my office
Got caught in traffic / construction on my way to Chicago for a conference
Heard presentations from awesome CTU faculty (including Donald Senior CP. Check your Catholic Study Bible.. he’s definitely the editor)
Went to a Phish concert
Met one of Muller’s friends from Marquette
Had coffee with an echo alum
Bought MORE stationary (I can’t stop…) from a fair trade store
Celebrated my best friend’s birthday with Chinese food and sparkling grape juice
Spent the night of her couch and reflected on how good it is to be with family
Received mail from Cuthbert (Mike, it’s okay to be jealous) He sent postcards from his monastery
Packed up everything I own and moved into a different room in the house (here's to new beginnings!)
Attended the Saint Barnabas Parish Picnic on Sunday
Painted faces, made buttons, sold sno-cones and Capri Suns to raise money for NCYC (oh the joys of youth ministry…)
Back in the office before mass this morning... it's good to be "home"
And, for those of you who saw my artwork on summer retreat, I think there are fewer trees.

Before We Decimated It, The Best Catholic Book Section Ever

Gen and I wandered into Downtown Books in Milwaukee today, and, after dropping 80 bucks, came out with this haul:

1) The Gift of Peace // Joseph Cardinal Bernardin
2) An Introduction to the Old Testament // Laurin J. Wenig (local MKE pastor)
3) How God Created // John Dunne, C.S.C.
4) The Way of All the Earth // John Dunne, C.S.C.
5) The Church of the Poor Devil: Reflections on a Riverboat Voyage and a Spiritual Journey // John Dunne, C.S.C.
6) The Homing Spirit: A Pilgrimage of the Mind, of the Heart, of the Soul // John Dunne, C.S.C.
7) Church: The Continuing Quest // Richard P. McBrien
8) A Theology of Protest // Bernard Haring
9) Elements of Rite: A Handbook of Liturgical Style // Aidan Kavanagh (woot)
10) What Makes Us Catholic // Thomas Groome
11) Global Responsibility: In Search of a New World Ethic // Hans Kung
12) Jayber Crow // Wendell Berry
13) The Holy Longing // Ronald Rolheiser
14) Communion of Immigrants: A History of Catholics in America // James T. Fisher
15) The Shape of Baptism: The Rite of Christian Initiation // Aidan Kavanagh (woot)
16) Witnessing to Justice // Justice in the World, Synod of Bishops; volume by Pedro Arrupe
17) The Art of Praying // Romano Guardini
18) Philemon's Problem: The daily dilemma of the Christian // James Burtchaell, C.S.C.
19) Commonweal Confronts the Century // Patrick Jordan and Paul Baumann, eds.
20) The Divine Milieu // Teilhard de Chardin

Phew.

Sunday Musings

You know you're an ACL when you get excited about the homily from the priest at your "home" parish. This morning he started his homily saying we were going to continue in the "mini series on the Eucharist." He tied in church teaching and the readings for today. It was great, and in the past it has been difficult to get excited over this priest's homilies.

And how about a little catechizing on the waters? I went up "north" to Island Lake with my dad, 3 other relatives (2 uncles, 1 aunt) and a friend of my dad's. This friend of his, Alan, is not Catholic, but on our pontoon ride he asked some questions about the Church, especially about when the Catholic religion started and it's relationship with Judaism. They were great questions. Gotta love being an ACL, we can answer questions like these for the rest of our lives!