Next Sunday: Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Celebrant : Fr. Tharp
Special Collection for Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers
The Archbishop has recommended that we have a special collection at the precept Masses on July 16 & 17. The Archdiocese will distribute 100% of the funds collected to thirty pro-life pregnancy care centers in the Archdiocese. I just received the notice today on June 29, and this bulletin article for the weekend of July 9 & 10 is due June 30. Additional information regarding the special collection will be announced at the precept Masses
Mark your calendar now!
The determination has been made by the Beacons of Light process that EVERY active priest in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati will be required to attend a Convocation at a distant location they have determined. This absence of priests will begin Monday, September 26. We should be permitted to return by evening Thursday, September 29. Just as it is during the Easter Triduum each year, there will be virtually no availability of priests for daily Mass, anointing of the sick, or funerals for the four day period. I will seek to advise our local funeral directors as well as hospitals and nursing homes. We have had mandatory convocations in the past decades, but forewarned is forearmed. As we approach the time, I should have more information.
Beacons of Light
The 57 new “Families” under the Beacons of Light program are now officially promulgated as of July 1, 2022. The implementation of the “families” signals the beginning. It is the hope that over the next few years, parishioners of both parishes will meet and discern possibilities. Over the next five years (or possibly less due to the fact that your pastor is “long in the tooth”) you, the parishioners, will determine Leadership in Phase One, achieve a Vision in Phase Two, lift up and celebrate your Family’s history and Culture in Phase Three, engage in Planning in Phase Four, and determine Mission in Phase Five. This all happens according to your family’s time schedule; not some pre-determined calendar. The only caveat is that we cannot stand still or choose to do nothing.
Now that the two parishes are officially working together as a “Family of Parishes” (remember that we have been working together for the past nine years as a “Pastoral Region”) I hope to “hit the ground running” after both festivals are completed by working with the parish councils of both parishes to identify leadership as well as structuring of the massive consultative process. I will be asking every parishioner to participate in these discernment processes to the degree each of you has the interest and the time. I will be asking every person available to invest time and effort; to the degree it is feasible, in this discernment process.
Eucharistic Display created by Blessed Carlo Acutis
The Women of Faith group is sponsoring Eucharistic Miracle posters created by Blessed Carlo Acutis, who died of Leukemia at age 15, but had created a website displaying these accumulated Eucharistic miracles from throughout the world. There is little doubt that when canonized, he will almost certainly become the patron of the internet and social media. Remember that the three stages or “cause of sainthood” to having one’s name placed on the “list” or “canon” of Saints in Rome starts with the title “Venerable, “ moves to the title “Blessed, ” and then after miraculous interventions is verified by the Holy See, the pope may name the person to the “list” or “canon” of titled “Saint.”
To encourage especially the young to take note of these posters, the Women together have created a raffle for those who take note of each poster throughout the next year.
Servers at Sacred Heart
St. Ann reinstituted servers last month, but (for various reasons) we have been a bit delayed at Sacred Heart. However, as of the weekend of June 26, servers who have been trained in the past are invited to come to the sacristy and see if you are needed. There will be no formal schedule until additional servers are trained and ready to go by the beginning of school. During the rest of the summer, this will be informal, but if you have already been trained, feel free to come to the sacristy. If we get too many at any one Mass, I ask you to understand and offer to serve the next time you are here.
Re-introduction of Precious Blood at Communion
We are continuing to re-introduce communion under both species at as many Masses as possible. However, for the time being, we have only enough distributors for two cups at the 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon Masses at Sacred Heart, and for the time being the 11:00 a.m. Mass at St. Ann. Again, we can only do this to the degree we have enough Eucharistic ministers willing to do cups. Also, I have heard chatter regarding other viruses in the news. I continue to be cautiously optimistic with the emphasis on “cautious.”
DO NOT FALL FOR SCAMS!!!!
I keep running this article because there are new scams everyday
Remember I NEVER solicit funds, donations, favors, or any request of any kind over the telephone, text, email, carrier pigeon, drone, etc. NEVER! Do not allow yourself to be taken in by scammers. Even if they have my recorded voice, be assured it is computer generated fake! It is not me!!!
Reminder for volunteers who work with or around children
Please be aware that failure to register with and complete the requirements of Safe Parish will result in your inability to continue to work with or around children in any parish and/or school setting. We have been informed by the Archdiocese that there can be NO EXCEPTIONS.
Live Streaming for Precept Masses
Please remember to access the Sacred Heart / St. Ann Pastoral Region You Tube site by clicking on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVLLqbEY5hKWinwz069MVcg
Reflection on Scripture:
The story of the Good Samaritan asserts a few obvious moral principles, and a moral teaching about prejudice that is nuanced. Clearly the priest and the Levite showed no compassion. Neglecting to do a good deed for someone in need is a sin of omission. Therefore, these two men respected by the society as upstanding citizens were negligent and uncaring. What we often fail to remember however is that a Samaritan was considered the dregs of humanity by the Jews. There is no doubt Jesus used a Samaritan as the heroic figure in the story to confront the prejudice of his culture.
The forefathers of our nation said that all human beings are created as equal individuals in the eyes of God. In other words, we each have an individual soul. Genesis tells us that God made us in his image and likeness. In all this, the focus is on each individual; the divine origin of each soul. Those who do not believe humans have an immortal soul would prefer that we think of ourselves as a herd; not as individuals. You can cull unnecessary individuals from a “herd.” You cannot “cull” family members. Every member of a family is a building block resulting in the structural integrity of the family. Take a few blocks out and the edifice collapses. Those who do not believe in God or individual human souls don’t believe in protecting individual human rights. They care only for the “rights of humanity.” In this way, they replace moral theology with anthropomorphic materialism; and usher religion and morality out of the equation that constitutes a society.
When I was growing up, my father taught me to listen for the misfire of only one cylinder of an eight cylinder (V-8) internal combustion engine. The machine would soon disintegrate if you tried to run it as a V-7! If our society keeps trying to eradicate reference to God as the creator of each individual human soul from every public social setting, all morality becomes irrelevant and society ceases to be a family and becomes only a herd.
NEXT WEEK Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gn 18:1-10a
Col 1:24-28
Lk 10:38-42
Theme: Martha and Mary