Weekly Letter: July 23 Bulletin

Dear friends in Christ,

    Throughout this summer at the Sunday liturgies we are hearing from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans in the second reading. In fact, we are in the middle of 16 weeks of reading from this particular letter. You’ll be hearing it until well into September!

    Each week we’ll hear short snippets from the letter, but it would be a good summer spiritual practice to read it in its entirety. Though it’s the longest of Paul’s letters, you can easily make your way through it in one sitting or maybe spaced out over a few days. I encourage you to try to carve out some time for yourself over the next few weeks and spend time with this letter from the great Apostle.

    The Letter to the Romans dates from around year 56 and thus portrays a picture of the early Church. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are very much in the memory of the people. But, as Paul discovers, they are forgetting some of the teachings of Jesus and falling back in their old way of being. The whole of the letter is an exhortation for the Romans (and us today) to remember that a life in God is only possible through living in the way of his son, Jesus Christ. It’s really a letter of encouragement for those who are struggling to hold on and even find hope in the midst of suffering and heartache. I suspect that resonates with more than a few of us. The glory that is to come, Paul says, makes the pain of this world bearable. That is just as true in the 21st century as it was in the 1st century.

    On this 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time we read a snippet (it’s only two verses) from Chapter 8 of one the most well-known passages of the letter. Here it is in full: “Brothers and sisters: The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches the hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will.”

    That’s it – short and sweet, but so powerful, too. I particularly love the part about the Spirit coming to our aid for we do not know how to pray as we ought. Amen to that! I think we can all relate to not being able to pray at certain times. We go to God, but we are struck mute or our mind is a mess and we don’t know what to say or do at that moment. St. Paul is telling us to call upon the Holy Spirit at that time, and a perfect way to do so is to simply say, “Come, Holy Spirit,” or in Latin, “Veni Sancte Spiritus.” It’s a beautiful prayer for guidance of the Holy Spirit. Try it sometime when you feel you don’t know how to pray as you should. It’s an invitation to allow God (“the one who searches the heart”) to come to us. All we have to do is listen and trust in Him.

    In other news, since we are past the halfway point of the year, let’s check in our progress in the 2023 Diocesan Services Fund (DSF) annual appeal. Recall that our goal is $335,000 this year. We are currently about $256,000 pledged from just shy of 700 donors, leaving us roughly $80,000 still to go. Granted we have until the end of the calendar year to reach our goal, but that means only about 10 percent of our nearly 7,000 families have made a pledge. If you are among the 90 percent that have not made a pledge, I encourage you to do so now. Gifts of any size are most welcome and needed.

    As an incentive this year, the Archdiocese is giving a 50 percent rebate to parishes on the total amount given by first-time donors. So, if you’ve never made a gift to DSF over the years, but for example, give $200 this year, the parish will receive a rebate of $100. Additionally, we receive 75 percent of any overage of our goal, and so collectively all of our donations not only help make the more than 60 ministries of DSF possible, but they also come back to aid us, too.

    For those who haven’t given, a reminder from Cardinal DiNardo will be in the mail this week. We also have additional envelopes in the narthex of the church, or to make it even easier, you can follow the link on our parish website, to make your gift online at www.archgh.org/dsf. That’s how I made my pledge and it was fast, easy, and secure. A gift of any size is great help to us meeting our goal and providing for others through the important work of DSF that no parish on its own could do, but that collectively we can all make possible. Thank you for your support of the many ministries that benefit from the DSF.

Peace, Fr. Sean