Beloved Family:
I want to acknowledge that once the Fourth of July has passed, I suffer a bit of anxiety as to what strikes me as a mighty acceleration in the days of summer. In those moments, I need to be that much more intentional in maintaining a spirit of gratitude for each day and hour of the day and surrendering idle thoughts about that over which I have zero percent control—including the passage of time.
As we head into the first full week of July, I will be traveling to visit family in Pennsylvania. I am hoping to see most if not all of my siblings at some point in the week. After forty-two years of dedicated service in teaching, my sister Trisha has entered a new phase of life as an officially retired person. What I know of her is true of the many educators in our parish. While there are not classes in the summer, a good deal of planning is taking place, nonetheless. This includes our Faith Formation office team and our new principal, Kim Dannemiller.
Some very exciting developments are about to be announced, with regard to the configuration of our faith formation across the parish generations. One of our fundamental hopes is to renew our support of family life (which essentially includes time spent together as family) and Sunday as a day set apart from other days. While change is always a bit of a challenge, we are confident that the Holy Spirit is leading the initiative. Please watch for a video message as well as other forms of communication related to this announcement. Please also pray as you learn of these developments, whether or not they seem to impact you and your family directly.
July, on the Catholic calendar, is designated as the month of the Precious Blood of Jesus.
The Precious Blood which we worship is the Blood which the Savior shed for us on Calvary and reassumed at His glorious Resurrection; it is the Blood which courses through the veins of His risen, glorified, living body at the right hand of God the Father in heaven; it is the Blood made present on our altars by the words of Consecration; it is the Blood which merited sanctifying grace for us and through it washes and beautifies our soul and inaugurates the beginning of eternal life in it.
The Cathedral Daily Missal
Here is the Collect (or Opening Prayer) for the Votive Mass of the Precious Blood:
Father, by the blood of your Son you have set us free and saved us from death. Continue your work of love within us, that by constantly celebrating the mystery of our salvation, we may reach the eternal life it promises. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Roman Missal
Let His Peace be with you,
Fr. Stephen
