Dear Parish Family
We are now in the midst of the summer heat, and many of our families will be off on vacations and other such gatherings. I pray that as we enter into these summer days we continue to be mindful of Christ's presence in our loves.
I am off to Australia this coming week to celebrate with our youth at World Youth Day. We will begin our pilgrimage journey in Brisbane with you Youth Arise Celebration. We all are looking forward to seeing our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI in Sydney.
Let us strive to work toward building up our families within the faith. So many families seem to forget the Lord during the summertime. Vacations are exciting and new adventures are awesome, but let's not forget to keep our Sundays holy during these days.
I suggest when planning your travels to make sure that there is a plan in place for the family to get to mass. There are a lot of opportunities to attend mass throughout the country. I often enjoy time at the beach, it is there that I personally become revived but also realize how exciting when I find that tiny little Catholic Church located in some secluded beach town, now that is a vacation.
I always enjoy the opportunity of experiencing another Catholic parish when I travel. In the same way, it is a way for us to bear witness to the Church at large, understanding that the Church Universal goes way beyond the perimeters of our won parish and diocese.
During the summertime it is especially important to make sure the commitment to attend mass continues. We never take a vacation form Jesus, in fact how beautiful it is hen we also make a diligent effort to incorporate the spiritual renewal into our time away, for it is when we are relaxed, and are finally able to take a breath that we can listen to God';'s voice.
Just some summer thoughts.
Fr. Michael