The Deacon's Bench - October, 2008

Haiti Notes

Heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed to the special hurricane collection for Haiti – over $1,570 was received. THANK YOU!! We recently received notification from Vista Hermosa, a Catholic foundation that helps feeding and education programs in developing nations, that they plan to give us $10,000 to help with our feeding program in Lilavois. This will help us help them meet the rising cost of food. Many thanks to all the Haiti Team members who called in and wrote so many grant requests over the last many months!

Please take a look at the wonderful website one of our young people, Kelsy Snyder, put together for us and catch up on what St. Pat’s is doing in response to Jesus’ call to heed the cry of the poor. It’s at:

You’ll find that it has lots of information about Haiti’s problems and hopes and how we are working together to help.

Of Other Things
It’s harvest time in these parts. I hope your gardens and orchards did well this year. As for us, we’ve had the best apple crop we’ve ever had – hundred and hundreds of gorgeous, large, juicy apples! There are so many that we’ve had plenty to give away to friends and neighbors. As I was out there up in a tree picking the not-so-low-hanging fruit it occurred to me that God was gently teaching me a lesson about life.

We planted our trees about twenty years ago, fertilized them, pruned them and watched them grow. In time they began to bear a little bit of fruit. Now there’s enough to spread around well beyond the circle of our family. The miracle of an apple tree and the offer of its bounty is all God’s doing. All we’ve ever done is take care of what has been given to us.

So it is with God’s love. It’s planted within us at birth, gets nourished by family, community and sacrament, and shows itself first a little bit, in the love we show those in our families and then, as we grow, far beyond the circle of our family. The miracle of love and all the good things that come of it is all God’s doing. All we have to do is help it grow, and then give our love to other people as freely as God gave it to us.

At our place, we like to think that when we gave away apples, or a pie or some applesauce, a little bit of God’s other miracle, the miracle of love, went with it too. Likewise, when you gave something for our Haitian brothers and sisters that’s exactly what you did too.

Deacon Tim’s Emergency Recipe #5 – Stuffed Frankfurter

Frankfurter – get your favorite (why would you not?)
Cheese – get your favorite (see previous step for reasoning)
Bacon – get a note from your doctor first
Slit frankfurter lengthwise, put cheese in it and wrap with bacon. Throw in microwave and cook for a minute or so. Eat.