• It is All About How We Respond…
                                           And Then the Journey
  
     Thank you to all the people who came together to make our Groundbreaking Celebration a success. Yes, it rained and it was cancelled but it was most definitely a huge success!  When God calls us to a task, what is most important is how we respond. Do we not hesitate to get involved and have every intention of following through with our commitment. When we are asked to donate of our time, talent, and/or treasure, do we do so willingly and don’t just give what is requested but go above and beyond because we know that it is for the glory and praise of our Heavenly Father. Of course there will be times that we might not be able to respond, nor will we be able to respond every time, and that is ok. 
  
     The problem is when we know God is calling us to do something and we make excuses. When we know we are being called and we know we have the time, talent, and/or treasure to do it and we make every excuse why we cannot. The people who answered the call to participate in our groundbreaking may not have an unlimited amount of time or money to spare, but they knew the significance of what we were celebrating and answered the call in a very big way. 
  These people worked tirelessly behind the scenes coordinating volunteers, gathering equipment, printing shirts, making lists, getting give a ways. Other people were practicing and were still able to give us a beautiful Mass adapting it ever so flawlessly with last minute changes. People, who if they were asked to donate one item donated more. If they were asked to come and help for 30 minutes, they asked “what else can I do, where else can I help”. If we asked for one generator, they said “I will bring two or three”.  When they committed to one thing, they would ask “what else do you need” and would go on to say, “keep me in the loop of what is going on, and if I have what you need, I will let you know.” People worked hard all week long and still woke up on Saturday to be at the church at 8am to help load equipment and materials to take to the new site. Some people were sick but would not let it stop them from getting things accomplished. Others were celebrating birthdays and anniversaries on Saturday but refused to have parties celebrated in their honor because being with their parish family at this important time in our parish history was more important.
    
  Once the rain started coming down and tents started blowing over and collapsing, people were getting soaked trying to save and protect them. There were people who spent hours setting up electrical equipment and were scrambling to save and protect the equipment that was generously loaned to us. People who came to our new property undeterred by the rain and were still determined to help make this celebration happen. People drove up in their cars asking if we needed help and when we would say we were really in need of trucks, they would respond, “I will be right back”. They went home, got a truck, returned and said “tell me what you need”.  People even parked their cars and jumped out in the rain and said “how can I help”. People took jumbled pieces of a rained out celebration and beautifully and skillfully pieced it all together, providing us with a beautiful gathering for food and fellowship. All these people responded, as well as those who responded ever so loudly but in such a quiet way that only their Father in Heaven may have taken notice.
  
  

  

   
  The celebration at our new site was cancelled due to the rain, but what is most important is that a call went out and people responded. Whether they responded "yes" and signed up on volunteer sheets, donated items, loaned out equipment, and/or actually got to work and helped set up that morning, or came running in at the last minute to help when help was needed...many people responded to the call. This was our test St. Luke, this was our call. In everything we do, how we respond and the journey taken together is much more important than the final outcome. So yes, brothers and sisters of St. Luke the Evangelist, our groundbreaking celebration was a huge success!