From our Parish Priest - January 2007

Calvin Coolidge was born on Independence Day, July 4 1872 in Plymouth, Vermont, the son of a village storekeeper. He was President of the United States from 1923 - 1929. During his time at the White House, he once invited friends from his hometown to dine with him but this caused a certain amount of nervousness on the part of his guests. Worried about their table manners, the Vermont visitors decided to do everything that Coolidge did. This worked very well throughout the meal, until coffee was served.

The president poured his coffee into the saucer.
The guests did the same.

Coolidge added sugar and cream.
His guests did, too.

Then Coolidge bent down.....
and put his saucer on the floor for the cat !

What everybody else does, what everybody else believes is a major factor in most peoples lives, perhaps there is safety in numbers.

Nowadays, for many people, there is a fall back position on religion that goes something like this.... "Oh, nobody believes all that nowadays !" There it is again, following the crowd and safety in numbers.

I remember a long time ago, trying to convince my mother that it was a good idea to go to some party, all logic failed so I brought out the one argument that would surely clinch the deal, I said, "But everybody’s going !" I also remember the answer my mum gave; "If everybody jumped off a cliff, would you do it, too ?"

St Augustine once said that inside every human being there is a God shaped space. He was right, but we cram that space full of things that are not God - ordinary, mediocre, predictable, safe, self centred things and we wonder why life is not as it should be.

The whole year lies ahead of us as we begin 2007....

365 days to follow the herd.....……or to be what God intends you to be.

365 days to do predictable things.…or to discover new things.

365 days to live like everyone else lives.......or to respond to His calling.

365 days to hide in the crowd........................or to stand alongside Jesus.

In 2007, don't just follow the crowd, don't be content with safety in numbers, don’t be conned by the "nobody believes all that nowadays !" syndrome. Search out and find the owner of the God shaped space inside your heart and soul.

That is what the Church is for !

Fr. Andrew