Remember you are dust!  My mom won a Roomba vacuum cleaner at the Gala last weekend.  The Roomba is a small disc shaped autonomous vacuum cleaner that can be programmed to clean your carpets and floors on a daily basis.  It has a series of sensors that helps it navigate around objects, detect dirty floors and sense deep drops so it can avoid tumbling down a set of stairs.
 
I went over to my parent’s condo a week ago this past Friday and got their Roomba set up and programmed.  My mom, dad and I were like little kids on Christmas Day waiting to see their new toy in action.  After going through the set up process and getting it programmed through an app on my mom’s phone, we hit the “CLEAN” button and off it went.  Their Roomba dutifully left its home base and started to clean.  It was fun watching this thing.  The Roomba’s first stop was the “Green Room” (a little den off the main living room).  There the Roomba wandered around for about ten minutes, going under the couch and a chair with ease.  Even though it would disappear from sight you could still hear the little thing as it accomplished its task.  It was fun watching it slow down as it approached furniture or small objects and then turn around on a dime to head off in a different direction at full speed.  After the Roomba’s first hour of work, half of which seemed to be focused under furniture, we opened the dirt chamber to clean it.  We were utterly amazed with all it picked up.  The container was filled with dust, fibers and dirt.  This thing really worked!  It was also fun watching it dock with its home base.  Once the Roomba was within 6 inches of its home base, it slowed down to a crawl and inched its way onto the base until it was thoroughly docked.  It was like watching the Space Shuttle dock with the International Space Station.  We thoroughly enjoyed our Friday night entertainment:  watching the Roomba clean the carpet and floors.  The following day, I received the following text message from my mom: “Lost Roomba for about 5 minutes; couldn’t find her under the dresser.  She started to say something but we didn’t catch it and she stopped cleaning.  Eventually we found her; a cord was stuck inside.  We cleaned out the receptacle and OMG … talk about lots of dust and dirt again.  She started working again and was at it for about 2 hours.  We sure are dusty old people so the saying ‘and to dust you shall return’ is no joke!”
 
Some Advice from a Parishioner:  At least once a year I publish the text from an anonymous letter I received in 2005 shortly after the First Sunday of Lent.  The scripture readings each First Sunday of Lent tell the story of Jesus being led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by Satan.  The letter offers timeless advice and it warrants being reprinted frequently.  Usually, I toss anonymous letters right away but this one escaped that fatal ending.  By God’s grace, this letter has touched the hearts of many people at SJA and beyond (you would be amazed how many times I’m asked for a copy of it).  I encourage you to keep a copy AND to pass a copy around to your family and friends.  I have posted a PDF copy of the letter on the homepage of our parish website.
 
“Fr. Bugarin, I was very moved by your homily on Sunday, February 13, 2005, regarding Hell, Satan, and the response of faithful people to temptation.  I am the father of an adult son and daughter, and it pains me to think of the mistakes my wife and I made in raising our children.  We thought we had a clever, well thought out solution to the dangers and evils of the world, but instead we were victims of our over estimation of our own perceived abilities and power.  In so doing we neglected the saving power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the intercessory power of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
 
“Knowing the evils and temptations of our world, my wife and I sought to shield our children through endless activity.  Like many other parents, we got our son involved in hockey and our daughter in dance; our goal was to keep our children busy and thus not give them a chance to get in trouble.  However, I now realize that in engaging in a futile attempt to shield our children from battle with the Devil we were instead merely failing to equip our children for their inevitable battles with Satan.  We attempted a human solution to a spiritual problem, and our human limitations and inadequacies resulted in failure.  We failed to fill our children with Christ, and instead left a vacuum too easily exploited by Satan.
 
“In focusing our children on endless activity we created selfish, self-centered children.  By failing to involve them in Catholic charitable works we taught them to believe they were the centers of their own universes.  We replaced rosaries, adoration and bible study with ice time, games and recitals.  We missed Sunday masses for tournaments and catechism for performances, and we rationalized it by asserting that it was ‘for the best.’  How wrong we were.
 
“Today, both of our children have left the Church.  Our daughter is living with a man and has had an abortion; our son has experimented with drugs and regards the Church with contempt and cynicism.  Our first priority should have been to pass on the faith and to teach trust in the Lord; instead, we relied on our human intellect and put our faith in schemes of this world.
 
“If I could only go back in time I’d make every Sunday mass as a family, lead my family in a weekly rosary, take my children to pray in front of an abortion clinic, lead them in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament and help them volunteer at a soup kitchen.  For despite our best efforts and intentions there still were times my children were alone and lonely, tired and weak, hungry and desirous.  I failed to anticipate and prepare my children for those inevitable times of temptation, and the Devil had been patiently waiting.
 
“Father, please print my letter in the church paper. If it will serve as a warning to at least one family it may help them to avoid the pain and regret my wife and I have experienced.  An Anonymous St. Joan of Arc Parishioner.”
 
Enjoy the week.  Know of my prayers.
 
In Christ,
 
gmb
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