Our staff meetings at Good Shepherd are a lovely smorgasbord, indeed! However, these meetings are not too Swedish as the origins of the word might lead one to think.
COURSE #1: We meet every Thursday at 12:00. The meeting begins with quiet prayer together—inviting the Good Shepherd to gather us and lead our discussion. Then we reflect on the upcoming weekend’s readings; each are voluntarily read by a staff member. Then we share a thought or word that struck us from the scriptures. Various reflection questions are put before us to stimulate application of God’s word in our lives and the life of our parish. We offer special intentions for various needs and then pray a closing prayer followed by…
COURSE #2: The blessing of the FOOD!...which is provided by a member of the staff, including us priests, each week. You can’t beat this kind of staff meeting—very Catholic! Eat, drink, discuss, etc. and still accomplish what needs to be done in a staff meeting.
This past Thursday’s meeting fell on the Feast of St. Thérèse, the Little Flower. Of course, this great saint was from France. In her honor, we enjoyed a very tasty French meal (no French champagne at noontime), meanwhile we pummeled through our agenda in the usual good spirit and concluded almost simultaneously with the last ounce of the delectable French dish served!
What great experiences for this newly ordained priest in this Year for Priests! Will staff meetings always be like this? What staff meeting can compare with our great staff meeting? A Lovely smorgasbord, indeed!
Father Will Ganci
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I have just read through the last three blogs from the "new" priests. Each of the men write about a form of celebration or meal. How wonderfully Catholic! The relationships are fed, nutured and cemented at table - whether those relationships are with family as was Fr. Paul's, or with the larger parish family as with Fr. Bob, or in a working group as with Fr. Will.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing these expereinces with your diocesan family! We do all come together at the table of the Lord!