Dear Parishioners, 

I hope you are all enjoying the summer so far. Thanks so much to all who assisted with Totus Tuus. It was certainly a lively bunch!

This Thursday (July 2nd ) we have Seekers again 6 PM-8:30 PM. We will have the same format as the first one: we’ll meet at the church parking lot at 6 PM for dinner and we will end the night by

going to High Wheel. This is for students going into 8th through college age. We eat, we have a discussion, do an activity, and get ice cream. My hope… the goal, is to have an opportunity to gather for a social time as well as to have a discussion about something pertinent to the lives of our students.

This week we celebrate 1st Friday at 8 AM SJ, and 9 AM OLF. First Saturday at 8 AM at SJ.

There’s a 10 AM Mass at Holy Family (on Bulldog Lake) Sunday July 5th . The Crosier Father’s are covering that Mass.

The weekend of July 11th and 12th for the weekend Masses we are promoting ‘Bring a Friend to Mass’ (BaFtM). Basically, what it entails is to invite someone to come to Mass with you. It could be a friend, a co-worker, a family member. It could be a Catholic who doesn’t go to Mass much, or a non-Catholic who is interested in coming. We will try to give a little commentary along with the Masses that weekend. Another angle could be to be intentional about who you sit with at Mass. Maybe you notice a person who is new or by themselves. You might offer to sit with them, or invite them to sit with you. This could be a chance to get to know someone better. My hope is that this is a chance to build up our parish community.

This coming weekend, is the 4th of July, and so the office will be closed Friday July 3rd . Our nation celebrates 250 years of existence. It is certainly a major milestone. As with any nation, there is no guarantee that freedom and a properly ordered society will continue. So, it is something to celebrate that our nation continues to strive to promote the freedoms that the nation was founded upon. As citizens, we are partially responsible to uphold the order of society and to promote the common good. It is no small thing for us to strive to do our part in this endeavor. This requires that we participate in the civic life of our country. It can be difficult to keep abreast of all the different things happening in the legislator. It can also be challenging because sometimes the way something is promoted makes it sound great, but when we look at the details we can see problems or concerns that seem not to be addressed. The lobbies and the special interest groups that work to influence policies are often well funded by businesses or organizations that seek to bend lawmakers to vote according to their wishes. I imagine it is difficult not to allow corruption to enter into our government. It seems unless a person is a very upright and also has a good head on their shoulders to sniff out the political ploys and tricks that are part of everyday policy making, they can easily be maneuvered into things they didn’t intend.

We need to pray for our law makers, and all who are part of the political process. If there is nothing guiding the behavior or the actions of those in politics, they are easily influenced by others who may be willing to ‘buy’ or ‘influence’ votes with whatever resources they wield. It is no small thing to serve as a politician while maintaining a moral compass. How many politicians enter into politics to make the country better, how many are willing to work hard, to seek compromise that serves the common good while not setting aside their morals, their faith or their convictions. I should think, it is a very hard profession indeed. Those who leave office no richer than what they receive as wages are to be lauded. Corruption can easily be masked in our complex system of government. Please join me in praying for our leaders and public officials.

In Christ,

Fr. Eli