Happy Fathers’ Day to all the fathers in our parish community. May God bless all our fathers on this special day. Let us pray that all fathers will use the love of God as their example as they strive to be the best of fathers to their children. A father’s love is so important to children, more important than we sometimes realize. So often many people in our society believe that the father’s presence is not all that important in the development of a child. There are parts of our society that would have us believe that a child does not really need to have a father while growing up, and so we have those who think it is perfectly alright for a woman to have a child to raise him/her by herself. This kind of thinking defies God’s plan of creation. God created man and woman, so that from the love they have for each other in the context of marriage, new life can be brought into the world. God very definitely intended all of us to have a mother and a father. Of course, we don’t always do things His way, but that does not mean we shouldn’t try to accept His Plan as our way of thinking in the world as it is today.
As we celebrate this Fathers’ Day, we should reflect on God’s love for all of us, and how His love can be so beautifully revealed in the love of a father for his children. Fathers can often be very busy, and it is easy for them to begin to think that the best way to show their love for their families is by providing for them through their jobs. That is all well and good, but there is much more to being a good father. Fathers need to spend time with their children, and I think more fathers realize this today than in years gone by.
Parish Picnic/Fr. Pat’s Farewell: Our celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart was truly beautiful in every way. All the weekend Masses were very prayerful and beautiful with a very heartfelt and moving homily given by Fr. Pat. After the 5 PM Mass on Sunday, the Parish Picnic was attended by over 700 people. The food was delicious provided by the Knights of Columbus, the Altar and Rosary Society, and all those who brought side dishes to share. The weather was very comfortable with no rain. So, all in all it was a very successful event. I am very grateful to all those who provided and prepared all the food, those who planned the picnic/farewell, especially Susan Edurese, Ryan McNeill, Bill Adams, members of our parish council, and all those who helped to set up and take down all the tables and chairs, especially our maintenance staff, Ben Kingland and Patrick Boyert. I am very grateful and glad that it all went so very well. It was a beautiful celebration of our Feast Day and a fitting farewell for Fr. Pat. God bless all for such hard work and devoted effort to our parish community.
Mark your calendars! Next year the Feast of the Sacred Heart will be on Friday, June 27, so we will celebrate the feast on the weekend of June 28 and 29 with our parish picnic being on SUNDAY, JUNE 29, after the noon Mass. Start praying for good weather now!
Keeping up with landscaping and making sure it looks good is an endless task as I am sure all of you know very well. I think our parish grounds have looked very good over the years and this is due to the hard work of our parishioners. In the past, this effort was headed up and coordinated by Tom Hegarty, who did such a great job! Now this effort has been assumed by some new leadership and some of those who are still willing to work to make the parish grounds as beautiful as always. Last Saturday, several of them worked several hours to put down some new mulch. This effort was directed by Miran Dolinar assisted by Bill and Cece Bees, Michael Hascher, Kevin Green, and Guy Ruwe. Thank you all for your help and hard work. May God bless all your efforts.
HOW TO DRESS FOR MASS. As always, with the warmer weather now upon us, some need to take special care of how they come dressed to Mass. There is a great temptation to be very casual and to desire to be comfortable. Shorts, short shorts for girls and women, t shirts, tank tops, halter tops, and flip flops are not really suitable attire to worship the Lord. Let us remember that our worship of God is not about us and our comfort. It is about praising and thanking the Lord as we remember the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Please be careful, and parents please pay attention to your children and teens attire for Mass. Be careful not to settle for the minimum, and think we should be happy just because they are there. We need to teach our children well about the importance of Mass and how we present ourselves before God. God does care what we wear; He wants the very best of what we have and what we are. I am sorry that I have to even bring this up because most people in our parish are very good about this, but there are some who need reminding.
