News - July 2018 RSS Feed

Dear friends in Christ,
We’re just two weeks away from the dedication of the new Redeemer Activity Center (RAC). All are invited to join us for Mass at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 12 with Cardinal DiNardo presiding. Afterward we’ll gather in the RAC for the dedication ceremony and blessing. We all can’t fit at one time, so we’ll have opportunities for you to tour the new building over the next several weeks. I’ll have more details soon. The building is looking great and I can’t wait for you to see it. It’s a much needed and great addition to our campus made possible by you, the parishioners of CtR.

Dear friends in Christ,
Our Gospel today from St. Mark contains what I think is one of the most comforting and beautiful lines in all of Scripture: “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” Those words of Jesus always strike me as being so tender. What a gentle invitation it is to “rest a while.”

Dear friends in Christ,
On this 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time we hear in the Gospel of St. Mark of two very specific actions that Jesus initiates with His disciples. First, He “summoned” them. Sometimes we say that Jesus “called” His disciples, but I like how St. Mark uses the word that is translated for us in English as “summoned.” A summons carries with it some weight or stamp of official business. It’s done for a specific purpose and you best answer a summons. A call can easily be ignored (I get perturbed whenever someone calls my cell phone - how dare they call me when a text will suffice!), but a summons requires a response. And the disciples respond beautifully to that summons of Jesus.

Dear friends in Christ,
“And they took offense at him.” That line from today's Gospel on the 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time always amazes me. No matter how many times I read or hear it, I'm always struck at how anyone could take offense at Jesus. He's Jesus, for cryin' out loud! Offense? How is that possible?