From the Desk of Father Tharp

 Festival

Please consider volunteering for our Parish Festival.  It takes a lot of volunteers to make it all happen.  The festival results are so vital to the parish/school operation.  Please volunteer your time in any way you can.

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.

Reflection on Scripture

“He was amazed at their lack of faith.”  Jesus wanted to proclaim the truth to his own home town.   But the people wanted to know his credentials.  They knew him as the son of Joseph and Mary, a carpenter who had shown remarkable and extraordinary rabbinic possibilities at his Bar Mitzvah in Jerusalem.  He had undergone the baptism of John in the Jordan, but prior to this, had not exhibited any remarkable capabilities.  Now he was proclaiming and interpreting Sacred Scripture and Mosaic Law with the skill of a seasoned Rabbi.  When a gifted person exhibits his or her giftedness, it is frequently met with jealousy and skepticism.  Jesus said that this is all the more true in one’s hometown.

In the intervening two thousand years, there have been many heretics who would not believe in the Divinity of Christ.  First were the Ariens who basically said Jesus was a nice guy, but not the divine Son of God.   After intervening heresies, you have people who will come to your door at what is usually the most inopportune time and try to convince you that Jesus is not the Son of God in a co-equal Trinity of Persons, but the first individual the Father created.  This misinterpretation results from the fact that they cannot read the original Koine Greek New Testament in context or with comprehension.  In other words, what happened to Jesus in his hometown, has been and still is perpetuated today. 

The credentials of Jesus are unimpeachable.  He was, is, and ever shall be the Son of God incarnate in time.  If the secular world of today in its selfishness and cynicism refuses to believe in the Son of God, consider it the continuation of the recalcitrance of the people in Jesus’ hometown.  There is always someone who refuses to cooperate in the Word of God.

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Am 7:12-15

Eph 1:3-14

Mk 6:7-13

Theme: No accessories needed!