Like Links in a Chain
By Rev. James J. Benz, Pastor, Little Flower Parish

Seventy-five years. Those of you who listen regularly to the “50,000 clear-channel red-hot watts” of KMOX radio know that our parish and the “Voice of St. Louis” were both founded in 1925. KMOX claims that their signal can be heard in 44 states throughout our country. Reflecting on that fact aroused my curiosity. If so many people in the United States have been influenced over the years by messages heard from the signal of one radio station, how many people have been influenced over the years by the message of the Good News transmitted through the people of our parish?

Of course, there is no way to determine how many people’s lives have been shaped either by KMOX or by Little Flower Parish, but I had an idea. Several months ago, representatives of the Little Flower graduating class of 1959 contacted me about having a reunion here at their alma mater. I thought that although I had no way to predict the number of people who have been influenced by their contact with this parish community, I could at least sample that impact by talking with the gathered members of that class. With pen and paper at the ready, I made some very interesting discoveries.

Out of the 39 members of that class, all but one are alive and well. While most live in the St. Louis area, others live in Chicago, Chattanooga, Denver, California, Massachusetts, and even Japan. Two are members of religious communities, a Jesuit priest who teaches counseling psychology and directs the student counseling center and a Sister of Loretto who serves as the principal of a school. One graduate is a judge for the St. Louis County Court, one is an attorney specializing in corporate law, one is a pathologist, several are nurses, and one is a paralegal with nine children. Two are high school teachers, and one is a university professor. One is a researcher for the Missouri Institute for Mental Health and works on the causes of alcoholism and drug addiction, one is a grant-writer and director of volunteers for a non-profit agency, and one served as an activities director at a nursing home. One owns a wallpaper and painting business, one is a data-systems manager for the federal government, one owns a popular restaurant in the Central West End, one sells furniture, and one is a retired electrician for Anheuser-Busch. Most are married, most have children, some are grandparents, and most are faithful members of their respective parishes.

Think how each of them were shaped by the Good News of God’s love through their experience of his Church here at Little Flower. Through each lesson taught in class, each soccer game played, and each moment spent in prayer, they were formed by Jesus Christ as members of his Church. Think, too, of how many lives they have in turn touched and shaped through the varied paths of their lives. And this is just one particular class of grade school students. The same can likely be said of all the other classes, either before or after that class of 1959, as well as all others who have been parishioners here over the years.

As you read this special anniversary publication, please sit back in wonder at how God has worked through the past 75 years of this parish to shape the lives of our people. Sit back, too, in wonder at how God has worked through our people to touch the lives of so many others. And finally, reflect with wonder at how God works right now and will continue to work in the future through this parish community to not only influence people in 44 states but also the people of the new millennium.