Please pray for 

• Max Engert, as he continues recovery from a fall.
• Abbey Keller, who died last week. Her funeral was at Emmaus on Thursday.
• For all our parishioners that have had surgery this past week.

Book Recommendation
It has been a while since I have made book recommendations so I have a bit of a backlog.  I will give you just a couple of recommendations and follow up with some more in future communications:

1. John Boyne, A Ladder to the Sky

I have recommended titles by John Boyne to you in the past. He is one of my favorite contemporary writers. This is his latest book. Some time ago I recommended to you his previous novel, The Heart’s Invisible Furies, which is one of the best books I have read in the past five years. This new novel is not up to that, however, everything that Boyne writes is wonderful. It is just that I consider The Heart’s Invisible Furies to be the absolute finest of his works. A Ladder the Sky, is a compelling tale centered on one of the most despicable characters I have encountered in literature. As I was reading it occurred to me that the only character who might have been as despicable is Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello. He is a writer of minimal talent who makes his mark on the literary world largely by stealing stories. Boyne creates wonderful characters and his plot development is superb. I highly recommend this book, but do be prepared to hate the central character.

1. Nickolas Butler, Shotgun Love Songs

I just finished this wonderful novel.  It is story of a group of friends who grew up together in a small Wisconsin town. In adulthood, two of them marry and remained on a farm near the town, another became a rodeo star, another an entrepreneur in Chicago and another a famous singer. The story revolves around them all returning to their home town as adults and working out some hard realities of life as adults as well as finding new depths to their friendships. This is Butler’s first novel. I am now looking forward to reading others. He is a wonderful writer. There were moments in which I found myself just sitting and marveling at the beauty of his prose.

Capital Campaign Matching Fund Update
As of this morning we are are at $148,000 toward my goal of building a $200,000 matching fund on our capital campaign for the proposed new buildings on both campuses. Thank you to all who have participated. I am grateful for every pledge made no matter the size. Every single one is important because they all represent your dedication to building up the life of our parish.

Speaking of that…
I had a lot of fun last weekend standing in the Narthex prior to Masses.  As most of you know, we have a capital campaign display near the door to the central nave of the church.  If you were among those who mistook “Flat Father” for the real me, you were in good company. Quite of few spoke to “Flat Father” before they realized that the real me was standing off to the side. Perhaps that means that the flat version of me looks more real than the flesh and blood version.
I am beside myself.

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Samuel Hose