S e p t e m b e r 1 0 , 2 0 1 7 t w e n t y - t h i r d S u n d a y i n O r d i n a r y T i m e

The Church of

St. albert great the Since 1935, a welcoming, caring Catholic Community of Faith

o n E . 2 9 t h S t r e e t a t 3 2 n d A v e n u e . S . i n M i n n e a p o l i s , M i n n e s o t a

PARISH OFFICE: 2836 33rd Ave. S. Minneapolis MN 55406

612-724-3643 FAX 612-722-9726 Email: info@saintalbertthegreat.org

Office staffed T thru F, 9 am - 3:30 pm

MASSES: Saturday ...................................................... 5:00 pm Sunday ........................................................... 9:30 am Mon, Tues, Thu, Fri.............................. 8:15 am (preceded by the Rosary at 8:00 am)

Eucharistic Adoration First Friday of each month, 9 am to noon in the chapel.

Individual Reconciliation by appointment. Community Reconciliation & Healing services held quarterly.

Call the Parish Center for information on Baptisms, Confirmation Marriage, Funerals (RCIA) Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults Faith Formation programs for children, youth & adults.

We support the quality, faith-based K-8 education at Risen Christ Catholic School 1120 E. 37th St. in Minneapolis. 612-822-5329

Call the Parish Center

at 612-724-3643 to learn more about this

special ministry of sharing God’s caring presence.

Find us on Facebook and visit our website:

“Love one

another.”

We choose love and peace. Amen! Alleluia!

www.saintalbertthegreat.org

Church of St. Albert the Great Minneapolis, MN In our prayers We remember those who need healing, including Sharon Walker, Barb Bennion, Roberta Erickson, Sonia Scheele, Damian Ziegler, Jerry Charipar, Lori Margolis, Dennis Smith, Kathy Susag, Ellen Sunell, Kevin Kenney, and Michelle Nies.

Call for Donations — OctoberFest It’s time to begin thinking about this year’s Octoberfest which will be held on Sunday, October 1st. If you have mini-raffle baskets (empty or full), or items to include in a mini-raffle basket, please let Janien Fandel know via phone or email –380-8610 or Janien33@yahoo.com.

Items can be dropped off with Janien or at the Parish of-fices. These annual calls for donations have yielded so many fun and unique donations! Please know that all do-nations are appreciated and if not used for Octoberfest, our Fish dinners are just around the corner, and many do-nations are needed for that “Mega” Mini Raffle.

Please also start thinking about making some of your spe-cialties and freezing them for donation for Grandma’s Cupboard on October 1: fruit, zucchini or pumpkin breads; home-preserved goodies; and candies and bards you might prepare closer to the date.

You might also want to consider how you’d like to be in-volved in the run-up to the event, or on the day itself. Ticket sellers, food preparers and sellers, children’s ac-tivity wranglers, balloon & décor people, Bingo workers… they’re all crucial to the smooth operation of the event. Watch for sign-up sheets.

Second Collection for Flood Relief The second collection this weekend will benefit the hu-manitarian and recovery efforts of Catholic Charities USA (the official domestic relief agency of the Catholic Church in the U.S.) and will provide pastoral and rebuilding sup-port to dioceses impacted by Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana. Thank you for your generosity.

This week at St. Albert’s (Masses and intentions are in BOLD type)

Pray the Rosary at 8:00 am before weekday masses. Saturday, Sept. 9 5:00 pm Mass James A Schmidt †, Jacquie Balfe †

DONUT WEEKEND! Fresh donuts available in the Social Hall

before & after weekend masses

Sunday, Sept. 10 — BUS 9:30 am Mass St. Albert’s Rosary Altar Society and the BIZAA project 10:30 am Buy some donuts and enjoy conversation in the Social Hall. 11:00 am Presentation by BIZAA (Basic Institute for Zonal African Advancement) to spread the word on an ongoing project that our Rosary Altar Society is involved with. Find out more on their informational table.

Monday, Sept. 11 — Parish Office closed 8:15 am Mass Lenny Sedlock † 9:00 am Volunteers leave for St. Albert’s Golf Tournament in Elk River 6:00 pm Commitment to Peace Ceremony at Peace Pole Tuesday, Sept. 12 8:15 am Mass Jodie Sloss † 9:30 am Staff meeting 1:00 pm Handcrafters in the Social Hall. All are welcome to come craft, or just socialize. 2:00 pm BeFrienders 6:30 pm Rosary Altar Society, Social Hall

Wednesday, Sept. 13 7:00 pm Adult Choir rehearsal Thursday, Sept. 14 8:15 am Mass For peace in our world

Friday, Sept. 15 8:15 am Mass Molly Gillespie † 8:00 pm Friday Friends AA, Social Hall Saturday, Sept. 16 — BUS 5:00 pm Mass Kent Foster †, Alvina Rose Connelly †, Joan Stefansky † Sunday, Sept. 17 9:30 am Mass St. Albert’s Catechists and teachers 10:30 am Refreshments in the Social Hall. All are welcome 11:00 am Catechist Retreat, Meeting House

Informational meeting: Hiawatha Collegiate Tuesday, Sept. 19 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm in the Social Hall. Updates on the development of the former Canada Dry/Shasta bottling plant on E. 28th Street at 36th Ave. S. into a charter high school for 700+ students, plus its own soccer field. Hiawatha Academies currently operates four successful schools, two K-4, one 5-8 and one evolving high school.

Financial Stewardship

Weekend of Sept. 3, 2017

Regular envelopes & Feast Days 4,937 Loose cash & checks 735 Legacy envelopes 328 Faith Formation contribution 50 “We Care” Outreach Ministry donations 1,030 Donations to Risen Christ 257 Hurricane Harvey relief 40 Thanks to those who give extra support to our fundraisers

to help with operating costs and expenses!

Thanks for a “High Five”

An extra $5 a week helps us meet our ongoing obligations for utilities, salaries and operating expenses.

“If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.”

When the pastor got up to preach, a little girl turned to her mother and said in a stage whisper: “Mom, if you give him the money now, do you think he will let us go?”

Fortunately, it would not be too difficult to get “two or three” members of the parish to agree that we have been graced with financial stability in the past few years. I am forever grateful to you and the Friends of St. Albert for your generous support of the Parish. As we begin this fiscal year, I am confident that our budget will remain balanced and that our ministerial and charitable obligations will be met. Being confident in our faith commitments and our willingness to pray together, I look forward to prayers an-swered and financial obligations met. Being called to a conversion of heart (metanoia) is the rich subtext of all three of our readings for The Twenty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Operating with consistent confi-dence in Jesus’ presence, we must look for ways to heal our differences and lay claim to love and forgiveness as true characteristics of our communities. Regardless of our politi-cal, religious or economic differences the Church must be a beacon of light amid the darkness of an uncertain, violent and indifferent world. In our reading from the Prophet Ezekiel (33:7-9), Ezekiel compares himself to a watchman who remains alert in the dark to warn those who are wicked to repent from their iniquities or risk forfeiting the Kingdom of God. In a curious twist to the prophetic role of the prophet, Ezekiel would also lose the Kingdom of God if, through his own negli-gence, he fails to turn the hearts of the wicked away from evil. Indeed, the stakes are high and the pressure is on! St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans (13:8-10) exhorts his listeners to give up their wicked ways (adultery, murder, stealing and coveting one’s neighbor’s possessions) and “Learn to love one’s neighbor as oneself.” In the gospel reading, Mat-thew 18:15-20, Jesus provides a model of intervention that provides a reasonable guide for any sinner to reform his or her sinful ways and to be at peace with one’s neighbor. Both Jesus and Paul’s theology build upon the foundational teaching of the Great Commandment (The Shema) of loving God and one’s neighbor (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18). The heart of the Jewish belief system was predicated upon the love of the One True God and the “spilling over” of that love upon one’s neighbor. The invitation to lasting conver-sion is summed up nicely in Paul’s conclusion: “Love your neighbor as yourself for love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is fulfilling the Law.” The call to conversion is a demanding one without any loop-holes. Jesus was not fooling around when he offered his healing assistance and forgiveness to sinners; however, as the community of followers continued to grow, so did the need for discipline. While it might seem easy to proclaim that we can love the Lord our God with our whole heart, our mind, our soul and with all our might, it might not be quite as simple to love our neighbor with such consistency. Life is messy and complex and so are the problems of our neighbors. Jesus’ invitation to conversion was to “the

saved” as well as those who seemed damned. Failing to live up to the gospel precepts would be problematic for Jesus as well as the local churches of Paul and the other disciples. Creating a formula of intervention for sinners, Jesus was clear in bringing his entire lost sheep home. This passage from Matthew (18:15-20) provides a remarkable insight into the ecclesiology of the early Church. In the passage preced-ing today’s gospel, Jesus tells the story of a shepherd who was tending 100 sheep when one of them went astray. The shepherd would secure the ninety-nine and go in search of the lost sheep. Jesus would conclude the passage: “So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” Jesus would reach out to all the lost sheep of the community, but would reluctantly accept a brother or sister’s rejection of the Kingdom of God. Honoring the gift of free will, “If a person refuses to listen even to the Community, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” Rounding up recalcitrant sisters and brothers is an on going invitation to evangelism. Making it impossible for sinners to repent and find their way back into the confines of the Community would prove to be an on going theological de-bate in the early Church. Ultimately, it is the individual who makes his or her choice to return home. Certainly, the parable of the Prodigal Son would provide an invitation to forgiveness as the basis for membership and an impetus to rejoice, fatted calf and all! In a very gentle and pastoral insight at the end of today’s gospel, Jesus is quite emphatic in his willingness to hear the prayers of both the lost and the found sheep: “Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” I tend to be optimistic about life, despite the pessimistic circumstances I run into on a daily basis. Searching for con-sensus in a community is critical for the ownership of the community’s joys and sorrows. In Jesus’s statement: “If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask”, the assump-tion is that the “prayer” will be answered. The real trick is getting at least two people on earth to agree upon any-thing; however, with the assurance of Jesus’ promise to be among us when we gather in his name, I am heartened and optimistic As one old pastor was fond of saying, “Where two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name, it’s time to pass the basket.” Not a bad thought, but not all the time! Given the commit-ment of the parishioners and friends of St. Albert’s Parish, I am confident today that in passing the basket for the needs of the victims of the recent hurricane in Texas and Louisi-ana, the second collection will be a spot-on reflection of the normal generosity of the Parish. Stay tuned for some future “asks” that, I hope, you will not refuse! Peace, Fr. Joe Gillespie, O.P.

CASH RAFFLE TICKETS GO OUT NEXT WEEK! One $500 PRIZE — Five $100 PRIZES…

that’s six opportunities to win for just $5.00!

Please add to your prayers: for healing: Marilyn Ulseth

And please pray for the uncountable numbers of people and creatures threatened and affected by numerous wild-fires in the west, Hurricane Harvey flooding, and cata-strophic Hurricane Irma, as well as Pakistan, Sudan and Nigeria.

Annual Sept. 11 Commitment to Peace "The Peace and Justice Com-mittee invites everyone to our annual Peace Pole Ceremony. Every year on September 11th to take a quick 15 minutes to recommit ourselves, and our Parish, to Peace. Please join us as we gather around the Peace Pole and our lovely gar-dens at 6:00. This also is a simple way for children to un-derstand making a commit-ment to Peace."

Our Peace Pole says “May peace prevail on earth” in twelve languages.

Holly Near & John McCutcheon in concert Saturday, Sept. 23 at 7:00 pm at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church at 9185 Lexington Ave. N. in Circle Pines. This is a benefit concert for EPES (Educatión Popular en Salud), which means Popular Education for Health. The sponsor-ing organization is AHA, Action for Health in the Ameri-cas, celebrating 35 years of working for justice and digni-ty in health. Holly Near says of the project, “Through dictatorship, fire, earthquake and poverty, EPES has survived, always there in solidarity with those who get hit hard by life’s challenges.” Adds John McCutcheon, “EPES never forgets that joy...and music!... are an essential part of any change movement. Let’s raise our voices with theirs.”

John McCutcheon is an American folk music singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has produced 34 al-bums since the 1970s. He’s well known for composing the subtly anti-war “Christmas in the Trenches,” about a Christmas truce between soldiers in 1914. Holly Near is an American singer-

songwriter, actress, teacher, and activist with a long history of folk and protest music. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Get tickets at EPES35.brownpapertickets.com.

“Come and See” Dominican Weekends The Dominican Province of St. Albert the Great invites young men for a weekend to explore a vocation as a Do-minican priest or bother. October 20-22, 2017 or Febru-ary 16-18, 2018 at St. Dominic Priory, 3407 Lafayette Ave. in St. Louis, MO. Presentations on the professed life, the four pillars of Dominican life, and becoming a Domini-can; compline, confession, Dominican Rosary, Eucharistic Adoration, lauds, mass, vespers; small group discussions, meeting with vocations promoter, tour of the Aquinas In-stitute of Theology, and more.

Contact vocations@opcentral.org, or visit facebook.com/domcentral.vocations.

Thanks from Risen Christ From James DeLong (‘95), Director of Advancement: “Thanks, Fr. Joe! You and the people of St. Albert’s are the best! The fact is, we cannot provide all that our chil-

dren need, so it is especially kind that the parishioners of St. Albert the Great have chosen to gift us with 30 bags of school supplies, along with tissues, hand wipes and napkins. On behalf of the children of

Risen Christ Catholic School, thank you for supporting them and the work they do. “

Rummage Sale at St. Mark’s The Church of St. Mark (corner of Dayton Ave. and Moore St. in St. Paul) is having a huge rummage sale Fri. and Sat., Sept. 22, & 23 (9:00 AM - 4:00 PM), & Sun., Sept. 24 (9:00 AM - noon). The sale is located in St. Mark's School through the doors on Moore St.

Be the apple of our eye The OctoberFest apple strudel/crisp makers are looking for the donation of any apples that folks have to spare from their trees, or that they’d be willing to purchase for the baking extravaganza. Please bring them to the Parish Office or Social Hall by Friday, Sept. 29. Thanks!

Join the Driving Force! Volunteers drive our parishioners to Mass in our parish bus each week, alternating Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings. The crew is in need of some additional mem-bers, so that drivers and their helpers only work once a month.

Driving the 11-passenger bus does not require a commer-cial license, just a good driving record.

Helpers assist elderly and disabled passengers on and off the bus, and help with the lift that’s used for wheelchairs. If you’d like to know more, contact Robin Henry at 612-724-3643, ext. 103, or r.henry@saintalbertthe great.org. (She’ll be out of the office for 10 days mid-Sept.)