CLS EVENTS
LITURGY PLANNING MEETING
The meeting to plan May liturgies is scheduled for Thursday, April 16, 9:30, at the Riverwalk Community Room, although it’s unlikely that we’ll be able to meet! When we’re able to convene again please join us! It's our combined ideas that create such meaningful liturgies!
And let Joanne or anyone on the liturgy committee know if you’d like to present a homily. All in CLS would love to hear your stories, your ideas, or your insights on favorite topics. Let us know, too, if you have an idea for an guest homilist.
IN MEMORIAM
Three past CLS members have died recently:
Marilyn Schmidt (January 29, 1938 – December 12. 2019)
CLS Choir Director in the 1980’s (in gray sweater & slacks)
Kathie Chandler (October 5, 1942 - December 24, 2019)
Celebrating with CLS at the 40th Anniversary Event (2011)
Gus Wendt (March 1, 1941 – December 27, 2019)
With Rita at their beautiful home (2014)
With the comfort and joy of fond memories
we extend our heartfelt condolences to family and friends.
EVENTS in the GREATER COMMUNITY
As of the middle of March Waukesha Community events have all been cancelled because of the COVID-19 Pandemic!!
Below are a few pertinent poems and reflections sent in by CLS members:
Pandemic
by Lynn Ungar 3-11-20
(sent by Katherine Zakutansky, Kate Jolin, and Katharyn Kominiarek)
What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath—
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray. Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.
And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely, that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.
Promise this world your love–
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.
Solidarity Prayer for a Pandemic
by Cameron Bellm (sent by Katharyn Kominiarek)
May we who are merely inconvenienced remember those whose lives are at stake.
May we who have no risk factors remember those most vulnerable.
May we who have the luxury of working from home remember those who must choose between preserving their health or making their rent.
May we who have the flexibility to care for our children when their schools close remember those who have no options.
May we who have to cancel our trips remember those that have no place to go.
May we who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market remember those who have no margin at all.
May we who settle in for a quarantine at home remember those who have no home.
During this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other,
let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God to our neighbors.
Amen.
WHEN THIS IS OVER
By Laura Kelly Fanucci (sent by Joanne Riordan)
When this is over,
May we never again take for granted
A handshake with a stranger
Full shelves at the store
Conversations with neighbors
A crowded theater
Friday night out
The taste of communion
A routine checkup
The school rush each morning
The stadium roaring
Each deep breath
A boring Tuesday
Life itself.
When this ends,
May we find
That we have become
More like the people
We wanted to be
We were called to be
We hoped to be
And may we stay that way –
Better for each other
Because of the worst.