Let Me Sow Love:
It
was Yom Kippur, the Jewish holy Day of Atonement. It was the birthday
of Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian spiritual leader who taught, Satyagraha,
the practice of non-violent resistance. It was the Catholic feast
of the Guardian Angels. It was the day Charles Carl Roberts IV
entered the Amish school in Lancaster County with a very deadly
intent. It was an act, so vile, as to shock a world grown numb
from the daily servings of violence in the news.
To many people evil, on this scale, is a stumbling
block to believing in a loving God. To others, however, the boundless
love of God cannot begin to be grasped apart from the brokenness
of the world. There is a reference, in the great Easter hymn,
The Exultet, to the original fall of humankind from grace. Alluding
to the original sin, it states, "O happy fault which gained
for us so great a redeemer." Perhaps this spiritual consciousness
offers a clue to the startling comments of a woman survivor of
Roberts' rampage. She stated that she felt "the presence
of God and angels in that room," as the horror unfolded.
This kind of witness, in the face of unspeakable evil, is a challenge
to anyone of us who claims to be a believer. It beckons us to
give serious consideration about where we stand in this shattered
world.
Two days after the shootings, as the Amish Community
prepared to bury their murdered daughters, the Christian tradition
was honoring the remarkable Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis has
left as part of his marvelous legacy the magnificent prayer: "Lord
make me an instrument of Thy peace. Where there is hatred let
me sow love." In a world where evil and immense injustice
abounds and numerous people (a great deal of them children) feel
unwanted and unloved, where do we stand? Does the existence of
pain, loneliness, sickness, hunger, neglect, abandonment, exploitation,
oppression and sheer senseless violence become our stumbling block
or do we see in the darkness an opportunity to sow love?
Updates:
Epiphany
Open House:
To commemorate our 4th anniversary and the feast of the Epiphany
we will be holding an open house on Saturday, January 6, 2007
from 3PM to 8PM. Meet us, the kids, learn more about what we do.
Refreshments, kids entertainment, artwork. All who attend will
have a free chance on two excellent seat tickets for the Philadelphia
Flyers VS the Pittsburgh Penguins game January 13th, 2007
Welcome Anna Claire
We are proud to announce the arrival of the almost 300 millionth
American, Anna Claire McCunney, our second grandchild, born October
17th, 2006 1 hour and 45 minutes before the arrival of number
300,000,000.
Waiting Children:
There is a great need to find families willing to make room in
their lives for a waiting child. Have you ever considered adoption?
To be introduced to some of the children currently waiting to
be part of a loving and stable family, we invite you to visit
the site below. Even if you are not able to adopt a child yourself,
you can play a significant role in helping to find a family. Invite
Epiphany House to conduct a presentation in your community. Church
groups, social organizations, clubs, workplaces, your home are
all locations where a presentation may be conducted. Be an ambassador
for some terrific kids. Contact us to conduct a presentation in
your community.
epiphanyhouse@comcast.net
or call 610 626-3744.
VISIT
at these Links:
PENNSYLVANIA
HEART GALLERY
Philadelphia Adoption Book
Best Wishes Josh:
On November 7th we bid a fond farewell to Joshua Taylor who had
been part of the Epiphany House family for nearly 9 months. Joshua
moved home with his dad. During his time with us Josh made many
good friends, did well at school, became manager of the football
team and showed a prowess for track. While Josh will be missed
we are happy that he and his dad are reunited. We wish them al
the best. Joshua always has friends here and we hope he will make
it a habit to visit.
Josh and Daniel strike a pose
Daniel
Daniel Jeffers who moved in with us in August will remain as permanent
placement with goal of adoption. We are happy Daniel already feels
a part of our family and wishes to remain with us. Daniel is making
good friends, excelling in Karate, getting superb grades at school,
likes Chinese symbols and dragon lore. We look forward to the
day his adoption becomes finalized with us.
Nicky
This month Epiphany House will begin the adoption application
procedure for Nicky O‘Keefe. Nicky is 15 years old and currently
a resident in a New Jersey pediatric care facility. We were introduced
to Nicky about two years ago. Nicky has Cerebral Palsy and related
medical needs. Our experience with our daughter, Salinna, makes
us very familiar with Nicky’s needs. Because Nicky is not
as small as Salinna we will be needing to make some structural
renovations so that our home will be more handicap accessible.
Yard Sale for Amish:
In mid-October, Epiphany House kids joined together in conducting
a yard sale to benefit the Amish Community suffering from the
October 2nd Amish school shootings. $75.00 was raised.
In Memoriam:
Vic Meszaros October 4, 2006.
We offer our sympathy to the family and friends of Vic Meszaros,
a long time friend to the Lanctot family, who, with his wife Lu
has been a regular supporter of Epiphany House. Vic was retired
from pharmacy, and had a passion for life. It including extensive
travel, love of people and family. Vic died from a rare form of
cancer, about which no one ever heard him complain. In our
correspondance over the past several years neither Vic nor Lu
ever mentioned his illness.We never knew he has been sick.
Dexter was truly honored to conduct the memorial
funeral service for Vic on Sunday, October 8, 2006. We are thankful
to Vic's wife Lu for the donation of a Toshiba
laptop computer, in his memory, to Epiphany House. Just days before
her donation we'd lost our main computer and our laptop crashed.
Her gift is timely and very much appreciated. We know
Vic will be greatly missed by those who knew and loved him. Our
condolences and prayers are with them.
Cantores Minores:
Epiphany House was host in October to three members of Cantores
Minores a boys choir from Helsinki Finland. http://www.cantoresminores.net.
We enjoyed the company of Juuso Koski, Alexsi Usano and Henry
Sorvisto. These talented young men helped us learn much about
there home country and joined our kids at the piano one evening
for a fun sing along which included a range from Phantom of the
Opera to Boogie.
Juuso, Alexsi and Henry at breakfast.
Jammin at the piano
Congrats to Sports Raffle Winners:
This fall we conducted a sports raffle chancing off Flyers tickets
and Penn Quaker football and basketball tickets. We thank all
who participated. The raffle raised about $440
We congratulate the following winners:
