Following Jesus
fit for God's kingdom
Announcements for June 25, 2022:
If you need anything at all, please be in touch with me.
Save the date! The Feast of OLMC marking the 175th Anniversary of our parish will be celebrated on Sunday, July 17. Stay tuned for the details of the day, which will include everything you love about the feast with Father Daniel at the dunk tank thrown in.
Vacation Bible School is coming to OLMC! Join us for a special summer program: Cathletics, Training to be Champions for Christ. Registration forms for the program, which runs during the week of July 18th, are available in the church narthex or the rectory office.
Men's and women's groups meet this week: women Tuesday evening (7:00pm June 28 in the church), and men on Saturday morning (6:30am July 2 in Gordon Hall). Feel free to email me for more information.
There's much to say about the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but this isn't really the place to do so. You can find my preliminary comments on our parish's Facebook page, and I'm happy to talk with anyone about where we go from here.
Visit the OLMC Parishioner Portal for all of our recent announcements.
Dear Saints,
This weekend's readings are all about discipleship: what it means to faithfully follow Jesus.
Our first reading gives us a good look of what it means to go all in on God. Before Elisha follows Elijah he kills his oxen, uses his plowing equipment to cook the meat, and gives the meat away. Elisha has no life left behind: it's all about God and his purposes from now on!
In our Gospel passage, Jesus shows us that faithfully following him demands this all in on God. We're talking about hardcore commitment here: When a would-be disciple asks Jesus to let him bury his father, Jesus responds with characteristic directness, Let the dead bury their dead.
This command might sound insensitive, but it was especially harsh for a first-Century Jew to hear. (NB: we don't know whether or not the man's father was still alive!) The task of burying the dead was, to them, a sacred duty that trumped all other sacred duties, including prayer!
Jesus is saying, then, that following him is the most important - the most urgent - thing anyone can do.
Following Jesus must be our life's number one priority. How do we do this?
We need to pray, sharing our whole heart and life with Jesus.
We have to live every moment for him, wanting to please him in everything we think, say, and do.
More than anything, we should live in thanksgiving for the merciful love God shows us as we try to bring this same patient, forgiving love to life for everyone we encounter.
We commit ourselves again to trusting and following Jesus today. In so doing, we'll be made fit for God's kingdom!
I love you, my friends, and I look forward to seeing you soon.
Christ's Peace,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
PS I'm serious about saving the date for the OLMC Feast, which doubles as our parish picnic. Join us July 17th, or regret it for the rest of your life! :)
Preparing for Mass?
Check out this weekend's readings:
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Elisha Raising the Son of the Shunamite
Frederick Leighton, 1881