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.

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.

RCIA / RCIC for 2018/2019

Schedules for RCIA are available at the doors of church or on line.  RCIA is an acronym for Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults and RCIC is the acronym for Rite of Christian Initiation for Children.  In the past, these were called “Convert Classes.”   Individuals interested in becoming Catholic should interview on the telephone or in person with Fr. Tharp so as to identify any canonical issues which may need to be addressed before officially joining the process.  My direct line number to my desk is (513) 858-4260 or email me at frtharp@sacredheart-fairfield.org. 

Reflection on Scripture

Do you have to have uniformity in order to have unity?  The fifty states forming the United States are a shining example of different regions and groups forming states in unity which has given birth to a nation.  But there does need to be one principle, one concept, one focus that unites each segment to the others.  Like the gears in a transmission, the teeth of each gear must mesh with its counterpart to transform and transmit the rotational power.  In the first reading,   Joshua asks for unity of heart and purpose among the twelve tribes.  In Ephesians, Paul asks for cooperation among every member of the team in order to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.  In the gospel, Jesus asks his disciples whether they are unified, or if each wants to go his or her own way?  To create a great sports team, each player must conform to one principle in order to configure a cohesive squad.  If components mesh into a cyclical motion, you have a functional machine. But to have the functional machine, each component must sacrifice itself for the good of the unit, and the entire mechanism must focus or center on one unmovable reality.  For Israel, for Christianity, for the United States that focus must be God.  Without him there is no complementary cyclical movement; the machinery won’t work.

Joshua said, “For me and mine, we will serve the Lord.”  Absent this sacrificial unity, there is no Israel; there is no Church.

Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dt 4:1-2, 6-8

Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27

Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Theme:   God’s law must be written on your heart.