Jack’s Winning Words 9/29/22]

“If you’re not moving forward and you’re not evolving, you’re devolving, and I don’t want to go backwards.  I want to be better at what I do – tomorrow.”  (Audra McDonald)  Aodra is a trained classical singer who is also a “pop” star.  Have you heard of her?  She’s said that in her singing she reaches deep down and tries to sing the truth.  Whether or not we are singers, each of us can reach down and try to speak the truth in our relationships with others.  Personally, I want to evolve into some better than I am now.  It takes concentration.  It takes a search to separate what is true goodness and what is just “the ordinary.   I believe in the theory of evolution: it’s better to evolve than to devolve!  ;-)  Jack

FROM TONY:  Jack, your nuggets every day are easy to take for granted.  You have such a knack for truth in each message, in 8-10 lines.  I don’t say thank you, enough.  I hope you have everything you need.  It would be nice to rest over coffee with you sometime. ===JACK:  Why not stop by when you're on this side of town sometime?  We'll be here until the end of Novemeber.  Give a call.

FROM JU IN NC:  Evolution Watch:. Folks in Minnesota,will someday grow tail's.  It is just too hard to hold a plate of grilled steak, glass of lemonade, and brush away flies and mosquitoes at the same time.===JACK: Evolution Watch:. Folks in Minnesota,will someday grow tail's.  It is just too hard to hold a plate of grilled steak, glass of lemonade, and brush away flies and mosquitoes at the same time.

FROM ST PAUL:  i think this is part of why you have reached such a ripe old age....you just keep evolving!   good work,  Jack!===JACK:  Even my theology is evolving (for the better, I hope).

FROM BB IN CHGO:  Yesterday I heard/read:  Imperfect action is always way better than perfect inaction…Take a chance if you make a mistake, you can always try again (get a new job) etc.  I think fear of failure may be a component in people choosing not to evolve.===JACK:  I think that you've got that right.  Fear of failure often leads us to do something lesser than we are capable of doing.  A good piece mof advice from my home pastor...."Don't go searching for a "better' congregation.   Start your own!  That led me to start a church "from scratch" on two occasions.  Neither begame a mega-church, but the experience gave me great satisfaction. .===BB:  I had no idea you were such a pioneer.  I’d love to hear about your ideas – the hows and whys of those decisions and whether you feel the church as a whole is moving in the right direction.

 

I got to visit the historic Archbishop’s house on State Street yesterday.  As you may know, the AB and Cardinal do not live there; the Cardinal chose to live in community at the FXW Catholic school property where the old Holy Name Cathedral sits.  As a Jesuit/Ignatian, I guess poverty and the simple life are part of his  vows so he will not live in the “big house”.  Ha.  The Pope won’t live in the Pope residence for the same reason; so here we have these mega high value properties being used for practical purposes to some extent.  Hmmmm.  When I wondered aloud how many Venezualan refugees could be housed I got a little speech on what “the church” is doing in Chicago in particular to help these folks and how the Kolbe House (which helps newly released prisoners find work and housing) are doing to integrate people into community life rather than sequester them on the margins.  This work, doing justice, loving mercy, takes a lot of arm-twisting (I  think) from powerful people who would rather meet and discuss than roll up their sleeves and work😊Hope to talk to you live and in person one of these days.===JACK:  Yiu may not know, but....the first inter-faith worship service held in the Chicago Archdiocese was held in my church in Grayslake and authorized by Cardinal Cody.  The speaker was a Chicago priest, Fr Art Haubold, who was my cousin.  You might also be interested to knnow that I was among the first of non-Catholic pastors to give a lecture to seminarians at the Mundelein Seminary.  I was also allowed to play on their golf course at any time.