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November 2011
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Dear
Friends of St. Anne’s Shrine,
We celebrated the closing Mass of the 2011 pilgrimage season on Sunday,
October 9th followed by a bountiful Harvest Dinner. The weather was warm
which made for great attendance on the traditional weekend of the Canadian
Thanksgiving. In my homily, I spoke about the importance of having a
grateful attitude in our lives. The first Catholic Mass in Vermont was
celebrated on our Shrine grounds by a Jesuit priest in 1666. The founder
of the Jesuits, St. Ignatius of Loyola, once wrote to one of his Jesuit
companions that the root of all sin is ingratitude.
In our society
today it is easy to lose sight of the things for which we should be
grateful. Each one of us has been gifted in some way. We all share the
gift of creation, the gift of Jesus in the incarnation, and the hope of
redemption won for us in Jesus’ resurrection. We are gifted by the people
in our lives - our spouses, children, extended families and friends. But
sometimes we lose sight of the reality that all is gift and we focus on
what we do not have or what we may have lost. For instance, losing a loved
one to death has the potential to make us angry and bitter because we may
feel we have been cheated. Life is a mystery, it is a gift and not
something we own and possess.
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Grateful people are happy
people because they recognize that all is gift. Gratitude for the
gifts in life moves us closer to God in giving thanks and inspires
us to share our gifts with others. When we are satisfied with what
we have we are not over reaching for things we do not have and this
contentment is a source of happiness. In happiness we are inspired
to share our giftedness with others out of gratitude.
We
have much to be thankful for at Saint Anne’s Shrine having weathered
both historic flooding in the Spring and tropical storm Irene in the
Fall. Destroyed buildings, downed trees, and high water to the
chapel steps, poor collections in the opening weeks of the season –
all of this did not prevent us from having a prayerful and
spiritually active season this past summer. We are grateful for
friends like you who ensured that God’s work proceeded as planned.
We have much to be thankful for, especially our loyal supporters who
share much needed financial resources with us.
In this season
of Thanksgiving in which we prepare for the gift of the Incarnation,
the birth of Jesus, please help us meet
our budgeted fundraising goal in this new fiscal year. I
have learned quickly that once I end one year, I have to start
fundraising from scratch in the next. This is necessary if we want
to share the gift of Jesus in our activities and programming,
especially the Mass. Thank you in advance for your continued
generosity to our beloved Shrine. You are in my daily prayers. May
God bless you with a happy Thanksgiving, a joyful Christmas and
blessed New Year!
Sincerely,
Rev. Brian J. Cummings, S.S.E.
Spiritual Director
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