Today’s storm knocked out power to the property. A tree is down near the William Street entrance that will be cleared tomorrow during the day. Please be careful entering and exiting by that entrance. Father Riley has agreed to give his talk by candlelight and the priests of St Mary will hear confession by candlelight. But adoration will end at 9pm and resume after the 6:30am Mass Thursday morning. All Masses will be celebrated tomorrow regardless of the power situation.
Happy Father’s Day and congratulations to all of our recent college and high school graduates!
Fatherhood is a vocation. It is God who calls men to share in His Fatherhood. In my spiritual and sacramental experience of fatherhood, my examples often start from natural fatherhood, most especially that modeled by my dad.
This year has been especially challenging for my father, because he had a stroke this spring. It has significantly aged him and at 91, that is presenting new challenges. If you were able to attend my 25th Priestly Anniversary, you heard how much I love him, and how much I have been inspired by his intelligence and above all his faith. He recently shared with me his gratitude to the Lord for his stroke. Yes, gratitude. My father keeps teaching and strengthening me, and I hope to be able in turn to do the same as your pastor.
Church law says that the pastor “is to strive to know the faithful entrusted to his care…. sharing in their cares, anxieties and sorrows, comforting them in the Lord.” These words reflect the Church’s vision of the pastor as the spiritual father of the parish family. What beautiful words for all fathers. Fathers are called to know their children, to help their gifts to blossom, and to share burdens and joys. Fathers are stewards of their children, because each child belongs to God. This is an awesome responsibility, and yet God will always give us the grace to exercise the offices given to us.
I often see young couples expressing some of the same awe at the prospect of having a family. They may say, “wow, we are not yet ready. We want to get to know each other better.” Or sometimes they express fears about being able to provide. We all fear our inadequacy, (or at least we should if we have any humility). Yet in Christ, all things are possible. Our fears can melt away in the loving embrace of our Lord. Dads: thanks for sharing in our cares, anxieties, and sorrows, comforting us in the Lord! May you continue to help us to know the Father’s love.
Thank you Dad, and all the other great examples of generous sacrifice.
And Graduates: always know who you are. Remain rooted in the family that the Lord chose for you, and the faith that He entrusted to you. Your Fathers are proud of you!
This week we welcome a seminarian to St. Mary IC for the summer: Gabe Gaudet. We have enclosed a note from him here so that you might get to know him. He will be with us through August 6th.
Occasionally I actually have time to read blogs/surf the interwebs, and find something interesting. I found a post that gave me some pause for reflection, considering summer is a great time to spend out in nature: https://bit.ly/3H9uI46
The blog post is titled “How Can We Know What’s True” and it is an interesting reflection from a convert, Marcus Grodi, about insights to the spiritual life from his farm. I will greatly abbreviate them as:
Nature, and our spiritual lives, without the willful input of energy will quickly move from disorder to order. Think of failing to tend your garden, and how quickly it is overrun with weeds. Weeding last month does not exempt from weeding this month.
His land is unique and good stewardship means finding what the land is suited for. This required the advice of ‘farm’ experts and an authoritative voice. The same is true in regards to our souls and discovering the purpose for which God made us. What are our unique gifts and talents? And finding the best fit for that requires good spiritual advice.
Boundaries are important and must be constantly tended. Fences keep predators out and farm animals in. In regards to our souls,
we generally do not regress to our completely disordered state (see 1 above). But proper maintenance of spiritual boundaries through contrition, repentance, and the sacramental grace of confession can prevent us from presuming on our past or present relationship with God.
Reflection on the land he has been given, led him to conclude that some thorn-bushes are actually diamonds in the rough. What might otherwise be despised (as the cross), with discipline, sacrifice, and even suffering are extraordinary gifts of the glory of God!
Go ahead and read the post yourself, as my efforts to summarize are limited at best. Furthermore, the post goes on to describe how we can measure the trustworthiness of our insights, a very good explanation of the teaching authority bestowed on us by Christ.
Let me think out loud here about the meaning of this Feast. Sometimes folks say, ‘where is that in the bible?’ Or take great consolation and certitude that something is written in the bible, and thus it is true. In our hearts, we are consoled to know that there is a firmness to this teaching, as we can trace its roots to the Word of God written in the bible.
It is not about The Book…. It is about the person whose speaking was written down in The Book.
And when Jesus ascended, He didn’t say, ‘gather in prayer and I will send you a book.’ He promised to send His Spirit. He promised to send a PERSON! He did that in power and might on Pentecost Sunday, and He does it in millions of ways every day.
I treasure the gift of Faith received from my parents. They taught me to perceive the work of the Holy Spirit. They did this by proclaiming His great works in their lives, and challenging me to look closely for His works in mine! There is no random coincidence in the symphony of grace. Every work, every prayer, every act of faith, hope and love is a note forming a harmonious whole! From Baptism to the grave, He never ceases to find ways to love us.
I have so much to be thankful for where the Lord is giving us all His Spirit! In the joy filled celebration of my 25th Anniversary. In the enthusiasm of the ministry of “Fr. Crush-It.” In the ordination this weekend of Fr. Renner and the baptisms taking place here at the same time! In a funeral Mass offered this morning for a daily communicant. In every one of these graces God is giving us Himself!
I treasure these graces, and pledge to rejoice and say forever, “Thanks be to God!”
