You may have noticed that the Faith Formation theme this year is Kingdom Builders. Being part of building the Kingdom of God is putting our faith into action following the principles of Catholic Social Teaching.  Being the cradle Catholic that I am, I had to do a little research and digging to remember them.  In case you need a little refresher also, there are 7 of them (yes, we Catholics do seem to like having things in groups of 7).  The first one is Life and Dignity of the Human Person which can be simplified to mean that we are all made in God's image and we are called to ask if our actions help or harm each human person.  Last night in our conversations over beverages at Theology by the Glass, we talked about being able to look into the heart of a person.  Sometimes our focus as a society is so much about how do people see me and less about how do they see Jesus in me.  How do I see Jesus in everyone I encounter?  Are there people who are more difficult to look and see with love?  Am I calling on Jesus to enable me to love better?  

I also need to let you know that I will be out of the country next week!  When I announced my retirement from teaching, my sister in law immediately announced that we could take the bucket list trip to Ireland that we talked about.  So I will be flying out Saturday with two sister in laws to lovely green Ireland.  And don't feel too badly for my husband.   He went to Puerto Rico for a week without me when we had two small boys at home!  Please contact the Faith Formation office from the 18th to the 22nd if you need anything and I will be back with stories to share on the 25th.  

It's been a wonderful privilege meeting and serving all of you so far here at Blessed Sacrament!  I am thankful for the warm welcome and kind words from everyone.  You have made me feel at home and certain that I was called to be here and part of "the light that you can't ignore."