From the corner office is Father Mike's weekly bulletin column.
The Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time presents to us scriptural readings concerning both hospitality and “being present” to the Lord. Do you see the Holy Spirit working through you, through us, and through these passages of scripture? Just last week we hosted a missionary from Sri Lanka to our parish and family of faith. Like Abraham and Sarah in the Book of Genesis, we welcomed this stranger, as a brother in Christ, traveling from the other side of the world.
St. Paul tells the Colossians of this mystery of Christ, and how we are all one body of Christ. This then moves into the Gospel of Luke where we see Mary and Martha. Mary takes up a spot at the feet of Jesus to “Be present to his Presence” and Martha is busy and anxious of the hospitality matters. Where you would expect Jesus to agree with Martha concerning her request for Mary’s help, Jesus talks of how Mary has picked the better part. Can we ask ourselves, "Are we busy and anxious about the worldly things or are we working to be present to the Presence of Christ?"
Fr. Mike
From the Pastor’s Desk:
Starting off, I have to sincerely thank all of those who have been so helpful with the hospitality this past week of Fr. Santhampillai Koduthor Devarajah (i.e. Fr. Deva…) from Sri Lanka. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for Fr. Deva to see his country in the news for all of the unrest and protest as he travels here in the Cleveland area. He mentioned one evening, “…the price that we spent on one meal was the month salary of a worker back in Sri Lanka”. The mission collection, like many of our collects, continue to drop from year to year, but we will be able to make a modest donation for his diocese back home. Please continue to pray for Fr. Deva and his parish, as we are one body of Christ.
The second point that I do need to continue to ask, is your continual ENGAGEMENT in all things parish life. Please! If you feel called to help with any part of the liturgies, please let us know. We also need to finish strong with the sale of the raffle tickets, as I am not 100% sure that the winning ticket has been sold. The raffle ticket that you buy or sell may actually be the winning ticket. Finally, start thinking about who you will be inviting to the parish festival July 24th. The STM School class of ’65 is starting to gather…
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