12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear Parishioner,
We had our last great feast of the spring on Friday, the Feast of the Sacred Heart. I thank all who made our celebration of the Easter Season and the other Feast Days so special. Now we move into Ordinary Time.
Ordinary Time, of course, makes up the majority of the Liturgical Calendar. The color that the priest wears is green. Green is a color that denotes hope. Just like the evergreen tree is green even during winter and is a sign of hope, we are to be positive people in regard to our faith at all times of the year.
We continue the mission of spreading the gospel. How do we do that? It is interesting there are a lot of people who talk about evangelization. What does that mean? It means that we are to be responsive to those who have weak faith or no faith. We do not save the saved. It is not about trading members between parishes.
At Sacred Heart Parish we have many Catholics who enroll in Seton School or come to our Baptism class asking to have their children initiated into the church who have not been around in a while. We do not chastise them for being lax. We try to help them to validate marriages, enroll their children in sacramental preparation and encourage Mass attendance. This is evangelization, I believe. It is more than putting up a WEB site or writing a book. It is practical every day service and interaction.
When people want to be anointed after a long absence from church or they want a loved one buried who has been away from their faith a long time then it is evangelization when we help. If people in such circumstances receive mercy we are fulfilling Christ’s command to love our neighbor.
We plant seeds. Our hope is that people who receive charity will find the church the institution Jesus wants it to be.
Blessings,
Fr. Mark
P.S. This is another reminder that the hospitals and nursing homes are not too good about notifying us of patients being admitted. A lot of this has to do with privacy laws. If you want to have a loved one visited please call our office and a priest or Eucharistic minister will come as soon as they can.
P.P.S. People have been asking when we will get another priest to help. The latest word is that a Society of African Mission Father will come to help us after the 4th of July. He will stay a couple of months. There will be more information forthcoming. Visa problems caused problems with another possible candidate. I will give you more information as I receive it.