The summer months

Many of us…of a certain age…have always thought of June, July and August as the months of summer; and summer meant: no school, lots of playing outdoors, baseball, maybe a vacation with family, maybe a camp with the scouts or the Y and if you were lucky, a summer job. Growing up in this beloved country, our families were formed by a school system that was formed by the demands of an agrarian economy. Children were needed at certain times of year…for planting and for the harvest. So, school was for the in-between times! It was once seen as a luxury.

Today’s school system, whether public, parochial or private, deals with a whole different set of stressors. Our children get out of school a bit earlier but they begin again in early August. Many developed countries have moved to a year-round school system. Our children are pushed and pulled by all kinds of activities. Lots of things have changed. Still, these summer months continue to be different…a bit slower, a bit less stressful. The heat of the South makes you slow down! I hope that all of us in this big parish family will enjoy these hot summer months.

And speaking of summer and slowing down and time away: Our own Fr. Exumé will be away from our parish for the month of June. Fr. Diosmar Natad will take his holiday in July. I will be in Chicago for two full weeks in July, learning more about the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd; and I will take my holiday with my priest friends for a few days in July and a week in August. So, please welcome the brothers that assist us while we are away…the visiting priests that will preside over our liturgies.

Service

Today, the 5th of June, “Fr. D” is celebrating his seventh anniversary as a priest for the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Please make sure you offer him your love on this special day.

Ascension and Pentecost

We celebrate the memory of the Ascension of the Risen Lord today. The Church reflects on the revelation of the Lord God: Jesus of Nazareth, crucified as the Lamb of God (a sacrifice for sin), died. Yet, He was raised and made Himself known. But the plan of God was not complete with the Resurrection. This Lord left the good earth, ascending to the Father…instructing his disciples: wait…for the Spirit is coming to you…and you will continue my ministry of reconciliation.

Ascension and Pentecost: He leaves yet remains. And we are His witnesses.

AMDG
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam