I would like to
bring you up to date on a few things. Two Sundays ago, on March 1, we had an
incident in the church between the 9 and the 11:30 a.m. Masses. A man from our
area, against whom we had a “criminal trespass order,” ignored my request to
not go into the church and then refused to leave. Because he is known to us and
we have had some problems with him in the past, I called the Austin police. He
refused to listen to them, and by the time it was over, he had an altercation
with the officers and was arrested. He is a very large man, fell under the
pews, and it took about 8 to 10 police officers to get him out. Hence we had a
large number of police vehicles parked out in front of church on Guadalupe
Street between the Masses. If you saw or heard of this, that is what was going
on.
The man was
charged with resisting arrest and at last report was in jail. I have since
heard from a relative of his that he had been spiraling downward for the last
several months, primarily because he refused to take his medications for mental
illness. I have since heard from his attorney that they are having him
evaluated by a psychiatrist and trying to get him some mental health help,
which would be the best outcome for him and his family.
It is all too
common that someone who needs medication begins to function well, and then once
they feel good, they think that they do not need the medication and stop taking
it. Then the mental illness again takes over.
This person and
his family definitely need our prayers. Our community, too, needs prayers. We
are an urban church with a good number of homeless in our area. The incidence
of mental illness in the homeless population is unfortunately high. We welcome all
kinds of people who come through our doors, and we try to do the best we can to
both help and also keep everyone else safe and protect our property. It is
sometimes a difficult balancing act. On the whole, I think we as a parish
generally do pretty well. If you have questions or comments about this, please
let me know. Thanks.
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On a totally
different subject: you may see that we have gotten some more hymnals. These are
a generous donation from St. John Vianney Parish. Thank you! They have gotten new
hymnals and gave their old hymnals to us. We needed new hymnals since some of
ours are worn out and falling apart, but we cannot afford a whole set of new
hymnals, which are expensive. Given our tight budget for ministries, we are
very happy to make do with these hand-me-down hymnals.
One thing I
particularly like about these hymnals is that they do not have the Sunday
readings in them. We are fortunate to have good lectors here at St. Austin. The
experience of “listening” is a little different than “reading along.” Listening
is more a communal stance, whereas reading along is more of an individual
approach. I am fully in favor of the more communal approach. The Word of God is
proclaimed to us as a community, not as a collection of individuals. Just as
you miss a lot if you have your nose buried in the libretto if you go to an
opera, so I think you miss out on something in the proclamation of the Word if
you are focusing on reading a book rather than the experience of hearing the
Word proclaimed. So I, for one, am glad the readings are not there.
If you need the
readings because of hearing difficulties or for any other reasons, then know that we are attempting to
keep the hymnals with readings in them at the front of the church. If you want
to read along, your best bet is to come to the front of the church.
God bless,
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