From the Desk of Father Tharp
NATIONAL NOVENA FOR THE LEGAL PROTECTION OF HUMAN LIFE The U.S. bishops urge our participation each Friday in a nationwide Novena for the Legal Protection of Human Life taking place August 3 through September 28. Participants will receive weekly email or text reminders to pray and fast, along with little-known facts about Roe v. Wade to share with others. Sign up at www.usccb.org/pray.
Festival
Special thanks to Joe Keller, Barbara Fackey, and all the volunteers who make the St. Ann Festival possible. Thanks to all who supported us in anyway. Special thanks to the Lord for great weather.
Don’t forget to support the festival of our sister parish in our pastoral region as they supported ours. Sacred Heart’s festival is August 10, 11, & 12.
REP Registration
St. Ann and Sacred Heart operate a combined Religious Education Program for students grades 1-8 not enrolled in and receiving religious training from a Catholic School (used to be called CCD). Registration for this program is open. Schedules and registration forms are available at the doors of church or from the parish office.
Feast of the Assumption of BVM August 15
This announcement is a week early, but the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary falls on a Wednesday this year. Therefore, it is a Holyday of Obligation! Although this notice will appear in next week’s bulletin, I thought you might like to receive a “heads up.” We will follow the normal Holy Day schedule of Masses at Sacred Heart and at St. Ann as follows:
Tuesday, August 14
5:30 p.m. at St. Ann
NO! 6:30 p.m. Confessions at Sacred Heart
7:00 p.m. at Sacred Heart
Wednesday, August 15
6:30 a.m. at St. Ann
7:30 a.m. at Sacred Heart
10:00 a.m. at St. Ann
7:00 p.m. at Sacred Heart
Reflection on Scripture
When I was a teenager in the 1960s, the slang meaning of the word “bread” among the hippie counter culture was “money.” The image has striking similarity to the conversation in today’s gospel between Jesus and the crowd that was following him. In the story of the Exodus, Moses asks God for food for the people, and God provides manna and quail for their sustenance on the desert. The crowd follows Jesus because he fed the five thousand. Perhaps he will do it again and they get a free meal.
Buying someone dinner in today’s society is a sign of affection and gratitude; perhaps even celebration. It is a cultural or social courtesy. At the time of Jesus however; giving someone food was giving the person an extension of life itself. They could live for another day because they were well fed. Jesus asks them, “Instead of a free meal; wouldn’t you rather have an extension of eternal life?” Jesus asks them if they can see past the temporal to the eternal. Jesus then reveals to them that he is the source of eternal life. Batting coaches always tell you, “Don’t just hit at the ball; but swing into the path of the ball.” See where the ball is going, and hit where it will be. If we know where we are going and we know who we are in Christ Jesus; we will never strike out.
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Kgs 19:4-8
Eph 4:30-5:2
Jn 6:41-51
Theme: “I am the bread of life!”