A way of living life to the full

November 14, 2019

223. Such sobriety, when lived freely and consciously, is liberating. It is not a lesser life or one lived with less intensity. On the contrary, it is a way of living life to the full. In reality, those who enjoy more and live better each moment are those who have given up dipping here and there, always on the look-out for what they do not have. They experience what it means to appreciate each person and each thing, learning familiarity with the simplest things and how to enjoy them.

So they are able to shed unsatisfied needs, reducing their obsessiveness and weariness. Even living on little, they can live a lot, above all when they cultivate other pleasures and find satisfaction in fraternal encounters, in service, in developing their gifts, in music and art, in contact with nature, in prayer. Happiness means knowing how to limit some needs which only diminish us, and being open to the many different possibilities which life can offer.

Source : Laudato Si'

Fr. Manny Alvarez

Little Flower Church (Coral Gables)

My dear friends,

Our Parish and School Fair is only three weeks away! I have such great memories of going to the fair of my home parish with my family. Those three days were the highlight of the year because since my parents worked the carnival from opening to closing, we rode the rides nonstop and ate foods that weren’t so healthy… and we survived! It was also a weekend of bonding with friends in a great Christian atmosphere. Once I became a priest and had parish fairs in most of the parishes that I was assigned to, I began to see what a great community building event it truly was. Seeing so many volunteers work long hours serving food, selling raffle and ride tickets and selflessly working to the point of exhaustion for the good of the parish and school has always left me in awe. And such is the case of our Fair here at the Church of the Little Flower and St. Theresa Catholic School. For months, the Fair Committee has been planning what should be a memorable three days for our community.

All of us should be invested in the success of our Fair. Remember that half of the proceeds go to our parish and the other half to the school. Because our buildings are old, we need to continue to preserve these historic buildings and the funds raised go a long way in helping our church and school maintain their unique beauty while keeping up with modern amenities. Since my arrival, I have always told our maintenance crews that we need to practice preventive maintenance rather than reactive maintenance. In other words, let’s not wait for something to break to fix it but rather upkeep everything we have, install new things when necessary and to try preventing things from breaking down. Not always easy when dealing with a 94-year-old school and hall and a 68-year-old church.

We need your support. We need volunteers to help out in our different booths throughout the weekend. If you could spare an hour or two, we would welcome you with open arms. Our Fair committee heads will be outside the Masses over the next few weekends to sign you up for volunteer hours.

We also need to sell raffle tickets. The raffle proceeds will go directly for one purpose: new secure, hurricane impact doors for our classrooms. Many of the doors of the original school building have been there since the school opened in 1925. While they are charming and have survived several hurricanes, they are starting to wear down and are frankly not secure for our children that attend school or religious education and need to be replaced. So I encourage you to buy raffle tickets after Mass and have a chance to win some great prizes.

I very much look forward to my first Fair here as your pastor. I look forward to spending time with your families and working with you to make our 2019 Fair a success. Invite your family and friends to join us the weekend of December 6, 7, & 8. New memories are just waiting to be made, and the Body of Christ will be strengthened as we work together to make our parish and school shining beacons that proclaim the glory of God.

God bless you all,

Fr. Manny Alvarez
Pastor