Next Sunday: Fifth Sunday of Easter Fr. Tharp
PLEASE NOTE:
There is NO GROUP Baptism at Sacred Heart on Sunday, April 25. This is due to First Communion Sunday at St. Ann.
Beacons of Light
If you have access to the internet, go to https://catholicaoc.org/beacons-of-light or type Beacons of Light into your favorite search engine. The Archdiocese has known we were facing a shortage of priests for the last forty years. Now we need to use all the modern tools at our disposal and the power of the Holy Spirit to plan for our future of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. This is why we must all participate as parishioners of our pastoral region in the Beacons of Light initiative, so we can look to the future with hope and trust in the Holy Spirit.
I encourage everyone to check this website out and pray for this important initiative.
Communion on the Tongue
Because we are still within a time of high risk for certain segments of our population, if you wish to receive Holy Communion on the tongue, you must come to me (Fr. Tharp) ONLY; and you must be sure you are at the end of my line. Please do not present yourselves to Fr. Schmitz or any of the Lay Eucharistic Ministers for communion on the tongue! If on Sundays, you see that I am going to be at St. Ann, then you must come to St. Ann that Sunday if you want to receive ONLY on the tongue. If on Sundays, you see that I am going to be at Sacred Heart, then you must come to Sacred Heart that Sunday if you want to receive ONLY on the tongue. I always celebrate Saturday at 4:00 p.m. at Sacred Heart and 5:15 p.m. at St. Ann every week.
Live Streaming a precept Mass from St. Ann and Sacred Heart each week
Live streaming will continue for the sick, shut-ins, and others unable to come to Mass. 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: Fourth Sunday of Easter
Art makes visible what is otherwise intangible faith. I did not put quotation marks around this phrase, as I do not know who said it. If someone famous did not say it, they should have! Our faith in the person of Jesus Christ whom we encounter in the Eucharist, Sacred Scripture, and in charity to one another; may be depicted in the picture of Divine Mercy, the three dimensional corpus on the cross, the triumphal Resurrected Jesus, images of the Sacred Heart, and even the Infant of Prague or the Infant of Good Health. These are all popular artistic renditions of Jesus Christ. But of all the thousands of artistic images of Jesus, we are all most certainly familiar with the analogy of the Good Shepherd.
The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd stands in contrast to the image of the cattle drive. Herding cattle requires controlled intimidation. With loud voices and maybe shots fired in the air, the cowboy seeks to intimidate the cattle to go in the direction he wants. He does not want a stampede, but rather just enough intimidation to persuade the direction of the herd. The cowboy does what he does so he gets a good price for the herd at the slaughterhouse.
The Good Shepherd knows the sheep by name. He calls their name and they come to him out of affection. The shepherd does what he does for the benefit of each individual sheep. God made each of us in his image and likeness. Jesus cares about each individual. We are born as individuals. We die as individuals. We receive his body and blood as individuals.
The world today sees little value in the individual. It is all about the society. Evidence how society views abortion as a form of population control and management. Jesus values each unique person. He loves us so much he would be willing to die for each one of us individually on the cross. In fact he did!
Next Week: Fifth Sunday of Easter
Acts 9:26-31
1 John 3:18-24
John 15:1-8
Theme: “I am the vine, you are the branches.”