From my warm office I can look out at the frozen church parking lot, and the very chilly downtown DeKalb. My Weatherbug says that it is 15 degrees outside. I am hoping for it to be 20 by noon.

Did I mention that St. Michael is my confirmation name? In eighth grade it seemed like a neat saint to have on my side. What I remember most about confirmation was what was happening in the city of Rockford. A fifteen year old had been kidnapped doing his paper route about a week prior.

After weeks of intensive searching, police and volunteers discovered his body in the cabin of a boy scout camp. I remember thinking less about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and more about the last days of life of this boy - who was about our age. I think about Joey every now and then.

This was one of many events, that as a young'in, forced me to look at some of the brokenness and ugliness of human Sin and Evil. In our school we had "bad" kids who were mischievous. In retrospect I can understand that they were from dysfunctional families. As I grew up I could begin to understand that how there is really no such thing as a personal sin. In one way or another our sins affect those around us.

Today we read the parable of the sower. For myself, with the help of St. Michael, I try to keep my garden weeded and tilled.