Frank: 314.740.1160.

We have an initiative to connect people to small faith sharing groups. If you are interested in joining a small group, please contact Jessica Rowley (314.918.2766 or email).

We Tithe as a parish and we need your recommendations
We donate 10% of our collections to worthy causes. We do this as an act of faith, trusting that, in doing this, we will still be able to meet our financial needs. Please let the Parish Council know about worthy organizations that you would like us to contribute to. Information needed: your name, name of organization you are suggesting, to whom check should be made payable, where to send check and to whose attention. Please send your suggestions to Marilyn Tenholder.

Matthew 25

The Matthew 25 Fund helps members in our community who need financial assistance. All information concerning the people with whom we work is held in the strictest confidence. If you would like to contribute to this fund, make your check payable to Matthew 25, and place it in the collection basket. If you need assistance from the fund, contact Peggy Montgomery.

Membership Care Prayer List
If you have a joy or concern you would like to share on the prayer list please contact someone on the pastoral team.

Jessica Rowley 314.918.2766;

Frank Krebs 314.740.1160;

We have a SafeChurch Policy to protect our children and other vulnerable populations.

Fundraising

Please keep our Schnucks E-Scrip fund raiser in mind when you shop. If you don't already have an E-Scrip card, please call Marilyn Tenholder (314.323.1467) and she will get one to you. There is no charge and all you have to do is activate it by either a phone call or by going online. Simply show the card when you check out and a percentage of your purchase cost will be rebated back to Sts. Clare & Francis. Thank you!

ECC Midwest

Partner Communities

Emmaus

Oshkosh, Wisconsin

San Damiano

Little Rock, Arkansas

St. Jerome

Tulsa, Oklahoma

COMMUNITY CORNER...

our family news

(It is good for us to know what's happening in each other's lives. If you have any news you'd like to share with the community, please email Steve ).

The Weekly News
January 23, 2104

Third Week of Ordinary Time

Saturday, January 25, 2014

5:00 pm

Readings: Is 8:23 - 9:3; 1 Cor 1:10-13, 17; Mt 4:12-23

Presider: Frank Krebs

Homilist: Frank Krebs

Readers: Karen Diehl, Therese Gabriel

Eucharistic Ministers: Marty Campbell, Barbara Harris, Barb Winkler

Sacristan: Marilyn Heller

If you are not able to serve in your scheduled ministry, please let Steve know when you get a substitute so that we can publish the correct names in the newsletter. Thanks.

scampbell@ppcsinc.org or call or text 314.603.9991.

St. Stanislaus Visits This Week

Well...not the actual St. Stanislaus, but parishioners of St. Stanislaus parish will join us for liturgy this week. SCF parishioners are reminded to bring cookies to share at a gathering after Mass.

Parish Council News

We are accepting nominations for membership on the Parish Council until February 1, 2014.

There are currently two Parish Council positions open. Nomination Forms will be available in the church vestibule. You can nominate someone by completing a form and placing it in the box in the back of church or by contacting one of the members of the Parish Council.

Do You Have Clare & Francis Photos?

We are updating our website and we need updated photos of SCF people and events. Did you take some good pictures at an SCF event that you would like to share? If so, could you please send them to our administrative assistant, Laura Tiffin, at churchoffice@stsclareandfrancis.org. If there are several photos from one event (e.g., Father Dickson's Cemetery or an SCF BBQ) please indicate that so we can organize them into "albums." Thanks.

Healing Our Wounds and Finding

Our Way Forward

January 25, 2013

1:00 to 4:00 pm

All SCF Members are encouraged to participate in a Healing Our Wounds and Finding Our Way Forward gathering on Saturday, January 25 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm. It is hoped that this event will mark the beginning of a new defining attribute for Sts. Clare & Francis as a community committed to exercising the graces of reconciliation, compassion and forgiveness with each other.

The facilitator for this gathering will be Dave Ebenhoh - husband, father, spiritual director, artist, writer, consultant, coach and friend (www.stillwaterspeaks.com).

Let us together mediate the love that God is offering through the community we continue to build and nurture.

Communal Prayer and Discernment

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

7:00 pm

All are invited to participate in communal prayer in church from 7:00 to 7:45 pm on Wednesday, January 29 as our community moves through the process of our search for a new associate pastor.

Communal Work of Service

KIVA

Last fall our group made a loan of $100 to Maria Isabel in El Salvador. She is 57 years old and is married. She studied through the ninth grade. She has four children who do not live with her now. She wakes up at 5:00 am, and alongside her husband, they start their daily work.

Maria is a farmer, an occupation that she learned from her mother as a small child. She and her husband walk the 1 kilometer to their parcel of land where they plant together in the morning. In the afternoon, she makes typical food, such as tamales, atol, and yuca, and her husband works as guard in a plant. The $1650 loan that she sought was to repair the roof of their home. It was damaged and in winter the water would come in and damage their belongings. In the future, Maria plans to build a snack stand where she will sell the food she prepares and thus earn greater income.

(This is classified as a housing loan in Kiva. Better housing means better health, sanitation, and even educational outcomes for children. A house can also be much more for entrepreneurs who run businesses out of their homes. In this way, housing and small business loans on Kiva share a common purpose: to alleviate poverty and enable families to enjoy more stable lives.)

On February 1 at 3:15 pm in the Fireside Room we will join as a community to extend more loans. Everyone is invited and encouraged to participate in choosing loan recipients at this meeting.

If you have any questions or want further information, please contact Clarence Heller (636.256.6516, marclar123@aol.com).

Homilies

Frank's homily from January 11, Unmoored or Grounded, and all homilies from Sts. Clare & Francis, can be found at http://scfhomilies.wordpress.com/.

Sponsored by Friends of SCF

Month of Guided Prayer

An Ecumenical Retreat in Everyday Life

Meet one-on-one with a prayer guide one hour each week for four consecutive weeks. Morning, afternoon and evening meeting times available. Co-hosted by First Presbyterian (in Kirkwood) and Webster Groves Presbyterian Churches. Starts January 26, 2014. For more information, or to register, visit www.weekofguidedprayer.org or contact Clarence Heller at 636.256.6515 or marclar123@aol.com.

~~~~~

Mary Magdalene - The Road Less Traveled

February 7 - 9, 2014

Retreat presented by SCF member Marilyn Koncen

Il Ritiro

For information, go to www.il-ritiro.org.

For registration info, e-mail il.ritiro@gmail.com, or call 636.274.0554.

Marilyn's phone contact is 314.776.0554.

random sightings

wisdom...reflection...insight...amusement

Stop Being Offended Today:

The Cure For Everything That Irritates You

There is an epidemic spreading across the world. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we're all carriers of the disease. It's called Offend-initis, a skin condition whereby the thickness of our skin melts away to the point where everything offends us.

Symptoms may include: hurt feelings, indignation, irritability, disappointment, grumpiness and an all-around allergic reaction to anyone who says or does something we don't like.

Fortunately, there is a cure.

But, before the healing begins, we need to start by acknowledging that there's a problem in the first place.

For many of us, we don't even know we're walking around with this virus, but it's there alright, destroying all the peace of mind cells we have in our body. Being offended doesn't just hurt our feelings, it compromises our whole "happiness immune system."

So, go ahead, you can say it. It's only three words: I get offended.

And don't worry.

You're not alone.

We all do.

In fact, there's almost nothing we don't get offended by.

We get offended by a roll of the eye or a shake of the head, as easily as we get offended when we're ignored, picked on, talked about, not talked about, overworked, unappreciated, or taken for granted.

And, that's not counting all those times in a day when we get offended by life disappointing us. You know what I'm talking about...those times when someone cuts us off on the road, jumps in front of us at the market, or doesn't say thank you when we think they should.

We get offended by parents who can't control their kids in restaurants, friends who don't invite us to parties, neighbors who refuse to pick up after their dog's mess.

Take your pick. There's something for everybody.

Now, you might say being offended is nothing more than a collection of pet peeves - all those little annoyances that get under our skin.

And it's true.

Of course, seeing as how the skin is the largest organ in the body, that's a lot of room for these "pet peeves" to get into our system and thrive. We need to be careful of infection.

It's time to let the healing begin.

Here is a simple prescription on how to stop being offended - three small pills to help clear up the irritation of life.

Pill #1: Don't Be Offended By Anything You Can't Change

This isn't a pill as much as it's an awareness we need to swallow. Let's face facts. We're not helping the world one bit by being offended.

And, yet, we often mistake our indignation for action, thinking that our being offended makes us more empathetic and caring, as if being upset by people who text while driving makes us pillars of the community.

In other words, we try to justify being offended.

I know I get offended at texting drivers - the indignation of someone putting my kids at risk.

And while it's true that it's dangerous, let's be real about this whole "justifying" business: my stink eye across the freeway isn't going to save hundreds of lives, any more than being offended at the guy who lets his dog poop all over someone else's lawn will do anything to beautify my own.

Being offended without taking action does nothing to make the world a better place. It only raises our blood pressure and makes us agitated.

If we're really offended by something, we should do something about it. Talk to the person who offended you, deal with the issue, elicit change.

And if I really wanted to do something about drivers who text, I should march to City Hall, call my congressman, blog about it, talk to my own kids, rally the troops. Take real action.

But I don't, so I stew in my indignation...and stewing does nothing but reduce the quality of my life. But, I can change that. We all can.

We can choose, from this moment forward, to not allow ourselves to expend one ounce of energy on what we can't change. Rather, let's change the things we can - starting with our own peace of mind.

Pill #2: Stop Looking For Things To Be Offended By

If it's been said once, it's been said a thousand times: we find what we look for. And when it comes to being offended, nothing could be more true.

Some days it seems like we're on the lookout for things to be offended by. We're waiting for it. It almost becomes a habit and, like any habit, the more we keep at it, the more it becomes an everyday part of our lives.

Fortunately, habits can be broken. If we choose, we can change our perspective. And this isn't just looking at the world as if the glass is half-full, it's making a conscious decision to look at our entire life differently.

Instead of always being the victim and looking for what someone is "doing to us," we can start looking for all the things someone is "doing for us."

We could thank the neighbor's dog for fertilizing our lawn, or the slow driver ahead of us for making us stop rushing.

We could thank the texting driver for making us put our cell phones down, or the negativity dwellers for making us appreciate our positive attitudes, or the guy who's always giving us grief for making us treat others nicer.

In fact, we could thank all those individuals who offend us for making us stronger, happier and more content.

Do this and the things that once irritated us will now become our teachers, guiding us toward inner peace.

Again, it's all a matter of perspective, or as Wayne Dyer says, "Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at will change."

Pill #3: Give Others The Space To Be Themselves

I know this is a big pill to swallow, but the reality is simple: most people aren't out to get us. They're not doing things to make us miserable and ruin our day. They're doing it because they're living their own life experiences.

Yes, that sometimes means they're inconsiderate, annoying, unconscious, and not living up to our high expectations.

But, guess what, we're not always living up to other people's expectations.

I've certainly offended my share of people. I've rolled my eyes, said things I wish I hadn't, been inconsiderate, unconscious and annoying.

And while I'm not proud of it, I do know that I'm a better person today than I was yesterday, in the same way that the person who offended you today may be a better person tomorrow.

The fact is, we all need space to be ourselves - to have good days and bad days, and to not always be at our best. We need the space to change, grow, and evolve, and to do it on our own time.

And the more we adopt this "big picture" attitude, the less demanding we will be of those around us, reducing the likelihood that we will be offended in the first place.

And here's the bonus: the more space we give for others to be themselves, the more space they're likely to make for us. I know it's a tough goal to stretch for, but it's also one that could change the world. It's called freedom and it's a peaceful, energizing, and beautiful thing.

That's it...three small pills to cure what irritates you.

Of course, it's not that simple. If you really want to be cured from what offends you, you'll need to stay on this prescription for the rest of your life. But, that's a small price to pay for the freedom to live every moment with the knowingness that your days of being chronically offended are once and forever over.

Bill Apablasa

Sts. Clare & Francis offers information about other organizations and activities as a way of providing information that we feel is useful or relevant to our members and to the public. As an Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) organization, Sts. Clare & Francis is required to abide by certain rules. Sts. Clare & Francis is absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Sts. Clare & Francis is also prohibited from devoting a substantial part of its activities to attempting to influence legislation. As a result of these rules, we do not specifically endorse these organizations or activities nor do they specifically represent the views of Sts. Clare & Francis, to the extent that doing so would jeopardize Sts. Clare & Francis' standing as a Section 501(c)(3) organization.

If you have an item that you wish to submit for publication in the Weekly News, please send it to

Steve Campbell no later than noon on Wednesday of the week you would like it to appear. If you cannot send an

e-mail, you may contact Steve at 314.603.9991.