St. Anthony of Padua Fraternity Bulletin
Vol. 12 No. 1   January 21, 2007

Minister's message
by Kim

Usually, when I write a new year�s column, I focus on resolutions and their subsequent dissolution before the month is out. This year, I was reading my morning paper, and lo and behold the StarTribune has discovered St. Francis! It seems that St. Francis met with Muslims! Although St. Francis was risking his life trying to convert Muslims, his humbleness and charism touched the sultan; St. Francis was in turned impressed by the faithful who prayed five times a day. It seems, (the author�s view) that if more of us were like the moderate sultan and St. Francis, we would not be fighting now.

The other thing that has been the subject of much discussion at our household has been Global Warming. Yes we saw the Al Gore movie, "An Inconvenient Truth." Although we talked some, recent events have generated more talk. Polar Bears may make the endangered species list because their ability to gather food has been compromised by the melting of ice (they are not able to float on the ice to get it.) Also, a 41 square mile ice shelf broke off in the Arctic. Compare that to the 52.8 sq. miles of the city of St. Paul. It seems that this ice chunk will now be a hazard to ships. What are they thinking? It is a hazard to all mankind! If the global warming trend isn�t reversed, we are seeing the breakdown that isn�t reversible. Our New Year's resolution should be to put the brakes on anything that further endangers our planet. Live Simply so that others can Live.