Fr. Sean's Weekly Column

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?

Dear friends in Christ,
Today the Church celebrates the 13th week of Ordinary Time, but in our country it’s also the beginning of a long Independence Day celebration. Given that July 4 falls midweek this year, we have extra time to thank God for the gift of our freedom and all the men and women who have served our country to win that freedom (and those who continue to do so on our behalf throughout the world today). Many have fought and died to safeguard the way of life we enjoy. Let us not forget the great sacrifices that have been offered on our behalf, while remembering the ultimate sacrifice and true freedom we have in God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Dear friends in Christ,
Merry Christmas! ... Huh? While it’s true that we are in the middle of summer (or rather the start of it since the solstice was just this past Thursday), today in the Church we get a bit of the Advent and Christmas seasons as we mark the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. This is one of the feast days of the Church that, if it were to fall on a Tuesday or Thursday, you probably wouldn’t think twice about. But since it falls on a Sunday this year, it gets special prominence and that’s a good thing. Ordinarily the Church observes the day of a saint’s death as his feast, because that day marks his entrance into heaven. To this rule there are two notable exceptions, the birthdays of Blessed Mary and of St. John the Baptist. Allow me to let the great St. Augustine tell us the reasoning behind this celebration.

Dear friends in Christ,
Happy Father’s Day to all our dads this weekend. I pray that your family will celebrate your presence in their life by giving you the greatest gift a dad could ever want –complete control of the TV remote for one day! Seriously, we honor all of our fathers, both the living and deceased, today and thank them for the gift of life they provide. Let us call upon the patron saint of all husbands and fathers, St. Joseph, to watch over and intercede on behalf of all of them. And let us not forget the wonderful gift of life that grandfathers, adopted fathers, stepfathers, foster fathers and godfathers offer their children. May God bless them all!