A Letter from Fr. Paul - Sunday, August 15th

On the feast day of St. Pius X, August 21st, parish leaders will participate in a retreat focused on what we have experienced and learned during the pandemic that can help our community, as we move into the future.  Please keep us in your prayers.

August 20th is the feast day of St. Bernard of Clairvaux.  We remember our neighboring community in our prayers that day, asking God to bless them.

This weekend we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our belief that Mary was taken, body and soul, into heaven, when she died.  It reaffirms that our bodies are an important part of who we are and that our body and soul will be reunited in heaven.

The Gospel chosen for this feast is the Visitation, Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth, immediately after she said “yes” to God’s request that she bear a son.

What is so striking is Mary’s first reaction to the incredible 
experience she had.  It wasn’t, “Oh my goodness, wait until I tell everyone about this!” It wasn’t, “What do I have to do, now, to prepare myself for this?” It wasn’t “How am I going to explain this to Joseph?”   Her first thought was about her older cousin who was pregnant and might need her help, so she went “in haste” to help her.

What a wonderful example for us of thinking of the needs of others, instead of concentrating only on ourselves.  

Self-preservation is part of our DNA and we need to take care of ourselves and those we are responsible for.  But it does not have to be at the exclusion of thinking of others.  The problem comes when we want more and more and more, while others don’t have what they need.  Or when we spend all our free time indulging our personal whims and comforts, when there are elderly relatives and neighbors for whom a visit would be worth more than gold.

God has given all of us time, talent, and treasure.  How are we using them?  Do we tend to concentrate only on ourselves and our family? Or, like Mary, are we able to think of others, especially those in need?  God bless.

Church sign of the week:  Ask not what God can do for you, but what you can do for God.