Upcoming Festivals

The Parish Family of Immaculate Heart of Mary (St. Ann and Sacred Heart) will for the long term future continue to need both church facilities, as neither location is large enough to accommodate the number of people in our combined parish boundaries who wish to attend Sunday Mass during the most favored Sunday timeslots.  Since both locations also support a vibrant Catholic School, we need to maintain and enhance all existing fundraising activities at both sites.  Thus it continues to be necessary for each site to host an annual “Parish Summer Festival” even when we become one parish at two locations.  The Saint Ann Festival is scheduled for Friday and Saturday evenings (July 26 & 27).   Sacred Heart Festival is scheduled for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (August 9 – 11).  Remember we are one Parish Family, with only one priest; operating at two locations.  We need the revenues from both festivals to operate and maintain the physical plant at each of the two locations.  If you are a parishioner at one or both, please prayerfully consider volunteering to work at the festival at one or both sites.

Beacons of Light: Phase Two:  “Envisioning”

One part of the “envisioning process” is to brainstorm what we as one parish with two worship locations, and two schools, could become.  We have envisioned possibilities to be prophetically relevant in the community at large in our evangelization efforts.  We have envisioned how our “Love in Action” charitable efforts can become more coordinated with other outreach programs for greater efficiency in serving the general need.  We have reflected on possibilities to expand worship opportunities into opportunities to live “lives of worship.”   We have reorganized administrative structure around a model of unified teamwork.   But in all of this, we must also reflect on our personal perspectives and corporate self-image.  To quote a line from a classic old movie, “We have to get our minds right.”  Eleven players have to reconfigure their athletic skills to work as a “team.”    This calls for changing our understanding of who we are, so we can better envision who we can become.  This soul searching must lead us into a decided paradigm change as to how we envision ourselves.  If we see Immaculate Heart of Mary Family Parish as two people in one canoe, we don’t worry about how many holes your end of the boat has versus my end of the boat.  Rather you focus on fixing the holes so the entire canoe can stay afloat and go faster.  “Them and us” concepts,  no matter how benign, must morph into a “Yin and Yang” model.   Coaches have to impress upon their players that, if it does not enable the whole team, it is not a genuine strength.  Similarly we must get our minds wrapped around that which is complementary.  In building a sky-scrapper, paradigm change requires restructuring the foundation.  As a parishioner of one parish with two locations, what structural predispositions do I need to change in myself?

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 gift of faith is not a trophy; it is a commissioning. If someone gives you an envelope filled with turnip seeds, the possibilities from a practical standpoint are very limited.  You cannot eat them, as it would be like eating a handful of sand, and it would provide no sustenance.  You cannot save them, as their small size means they will escape the seams of the envelope.  If you plant them all in one handful, none are likely to grow.  But if you scatter them throughout the freshly plowed and disked field, you set yourself up for a magnificent harvest. 

The gift of faith is much like an envelope full of turnip seeds.  There practical use is very limited.  If you scatter and sow them on fertile soil, you will reap a wonderful harvest.  Therefore, the gift of faith given to us by God is much less a trophy, and much more a commissioning.  If you are a farmer, you must pull the weeds before they take over.  If you tend a herd or a flock, you must pasture and protect the flock from the evil predator.  And if you are engaged in pastoral ministry for Christ, then you must selflessly shepherd the flock like Jesus did.  This means not counting the cost, but working for the harvest of souls for the Kingdom of God. 

If you are baptized and confirmed, you are a shepherd whether you want to be or not.  You are not just the recipient of a gift.  You are a pastor of souls.  Your task is evangelization, and this task becomes your duty as a result of receiving the gift of faith.

NEXT SUNDAY  Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

2Kgs 4:42-44

Eph 4:1-6

Mk 6:1-15

Theme:  The multiplication of loaves and fish