Next Sunday: Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Celebrant: Fr. Tharp
Independence Day
July 4, 2024, a national holiday, falls on a Thursday. Mass at Sacred Heart will be at the usual time of 7:30 a.m. We will NOT have 6:30 a.m. Mass at St. Ann, but rather the Mass will be moved to 9:00 a.m. at St. Ann. Also, please note that in addition to the patriotic theme, we will celebrate a 50th anniversary of marriage at the 9:00 a.m. Mass.
Letter from Archbishop Schnurr on the 203rd Anniversary of the Archdiocese
I ran this in last week’s bulletin, but I thought it deserved repeating:
To help us integrate this year’s National Eucharist Congress to be held in Indianapolis next month (the last National Eucharist Congress was held in 1941, so unless you are over 85 you probably don’t remember it), and the ongoing process of the Beacons of Light within the Archdiocese; the Archbishop has issued a letter dated June 19, 2024 addressed to the faithful of the Archdiocese. (Copies of this letter are available at the doors.) I encourage you to thoroughly read the Archbishop’s letter so as to integrate the two. The Eucharist is the Real Presence, body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. Pondering this sacramental mystery leads us not only to understand the truth of the Sacrament, but it allows us to better comprehend (as the Church) our prophetic role as Catholic members of the Body of Christ in the United States.
Beacons of Light: Phase Two: “Envisioning”
This week I ask the question: “As the Family of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, how do we amalgamate the unique Eucharistic traditions of St. Ann and Sacred Heart so that the combination does not erase their distinctiveness?” As always, I invite your email comments and observations.
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 gospel story of Jesus raising the daughter of Jairus is intended to reveal that Jesus is divine. He can bring life out of death. He can solve the most impossible conundrum. But what does his interaction with the other characters in the story reveal? By the time Jesus arrives at the house, the child has died, and according to Jewish custom at the time, those paid to mourn were already setting the mood. It would be socially inappropriate for a synagogue official to publicly display grief so emotionally. Just as people in mourning may wear black in our society, in the society at that time, paid mourners would display the emotions the synagogue official was feeling without diminishing his dignity. Jesus comes upon the professional mourners and asks them why they were going on so? The professional mourners think that Jesus’s introduction of hope in the face of death is ridiculous. They might well have said to him, “What don’t you understand about death!” They ridiculed him, so he throws them out of the house. Remember that if nobody died, they don’t get paid. He only allows Peter, James, and John to come in the house with him; the same three who witness the Transfiguration. Jesus is not doing this miracle to show off and astound the public. He is revealing that death is not hopeless or final if you live in faith.
The interaction of Jesus with the professional mourners makes it clear that there is no room for those who like to wallow in their own despair in the Church. The only hopeless situation is one in which we ignore God. Despair says faith in God is powerless and futile. Jesus counters that this is like cursing the darkness when you won’t plug in the lamp. If you have faith; nothing is impossible with God! If God is included in your equation; nothing is impossible.
NEXT SUNDAY Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Ez 2:2-5
2 Cor 12:7-10
Mk 6:1-6a
Theme: Jealousy is the antithesis of humility!