From the Desk of Father Tharp

Labor Day Schedule

Labor Day, a national holiday, is Monday, September 2.  I will NOT have a 6:30 a.m. Mass at St. Ann.  Rather, I will celebrate the usual 7:30 a.m. Mass at Sacred Heart and a 9:00 a.m. Mass at St. Ann.  For security purposes, church doors will be locked at both locations shortly after the completion of Mass.

Job posting: One Employment position open at Sacred Heart

There are three full-time (forty hour per week) janitor/maintenance employment positions at Sacred Heart, supervised by our Maintenance Supervisor; and one of these three janitorial positions has recently come open.   We plan on hiring one person who is physically capable of significant physical cleaning, strenuous snow removal, and general janitorial and maintenance work on the 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. shift.  Please see the job description listed elsewhere in this bulletin or on the Sacred Heart parish website.  I am including this notice in St. Ann Bulletin as well as I want to include the entire pastoral region in the notice.

RCIA and RCIC

RCIA / RCIC (Convert) Classes begin Wednesday, September 18 at 7:00 p.m. in the basement of Sacred Heart Church.  Scheduled are available at the doors of the church.  Remember that this is a combined program for the St. Ann/Sacred Heart Pastoral Region.

SCAMS

Remember that scams abound in email, texts, and on the internet.  Be assured I will NEVER send you an email or text asking for help.  Should you receive such a message, delete it without opening it as I assure you it is not from me.

Reflection on Scripture

“Have you learned to see God living in others?”  The readings this week are all about humility.  But humility is a condition not so much conveyed by a bowed head or a bent posture.  Humility as a virtue is the ability to respond to others as if you could see through God’s eyes.  God sees himself in each one of us.  The humility question is, “Are we able to see God in one another?  Do we value the other just because he or she is made in the image and likeness of God?   What if the person needing help, does not even believe in God?” 

If you were starving, would you share your last morsel of food with God?  Would you share your last morsel with the inebriated person lying in the gutter?  If your answers are “yes” and “maybe,” why the “maybe!”   Is it hard to see God, and reach out your hand in charity to the person who does not seem to care?  How about the person who is openly hostile to you?

The acronym JOY became well used in Christian circles in the 1970s.  Jesus must be first.  Others must be second.  And finally, you must be third.  We see advertisements which read, “Proud to be number One (in whatever).”   Only followers of Christ can say, “Proud to be number Three!”       

Next Weekend: Twenty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wis 9:13-18b

Phlm 9-10, 12-17

Luke 14:25-33

Theme:  Abandonment of all earthly goods.