A word from Pope Francis ~ “There is a danger that threatens everyone in the church, all of us. The danger of worldliness. It leads us to vanity, arrogance and pride.”
As we celebrate the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time this weekend, we near the midpoint of the summer. All through this year, we have been reading from the Gospel of St. Luke in our Sunday Gospel readings. Week by week, we are seeing Luke’s portrayal of Jesus’ ministry unfold before us. This week, we hear of a scholar of the law testing Jesus by asking him what he must do to inherit eternal life. When Jesus turns the question on him, the scholar gives the traditional answer from the Mosaic law – love the Lord, your God, with your entire being and your neighbor as yourself. When Jesus affirms his answer, the scholar continues the debate by asking Jesus to define “neighbor.” Jesus answers with the very familiar parable of the Good Samaritan. As the parable unfolds, we see Jesus treat the testing scholar with mercy and sends the man away with the command, “Go and do likewise.”
Thank you to our Father John Guiney Knights of Columbus Council for again supplying and placing the American flags around the church last weekend for the Fourth of July weekend. They set the tone for our prayer together at our Fourth of July Mass.
One of the blessings of our Catholic faith tradition is our practice of interceding and supporting each other through our prayer. We do that every time we gather for the Eucharist, especially during the Prayer of the Faithful. Since we are connected to each other in faith, it is important that we support those in need with our prayers. While we regularly remember those who are sick and those who have died, we have additional opportunities to request the prayers of our community. Our Parish Book of Prayer, which was removed from the Narthex in March 2020 with the COVID precautions, has now been restored and is located in the Narthex near the south doors entering the church. All are welcome to indicate their prayer requests and intentions in our Parish Book of Prayer. Each week in the bulletin, we also print our prayer list for Engaged Couples who are preparing for marriage. As a people who value life, our Expecting Parents prayer list is there too. Please remember to stop and pray for these intentions as you read the bulletin each week. If you wish to have anyone added to a particular prayer list, please call the Parish Office. This also includes a son or daughter marrying at another parish or an out-of-town family member expecting a child. It is good for us to remember all of these intentions in our prayer.
Now that the summer months have arrived, our parish staff normally shifts into our summer hours. We are continuing our practice of closing the parish offices on Fridays during July. One of our staff will be on duty for telephone calls and deliveries. This practice gives our staff some additional time for family activities.
We remember those who are away on vacation and all those who are traveling. And we thank God for the opportunities to enjoy the beauty of the outdoors. May God continue to bless us with all that we need, and more.
Father Jim Murphy