Blast from the Pastor: July 2, 2022

God's Plan, God's Provision
living on mission

Announcements for July 2, 2022:

  1. If you need anything at all, please be in touch with me.

  2. The Feast of OLMC marking the 175th Anniversary of our parish will be celebrated on Sunday, July 17. If you're able to pitch in, we're looking for the following help:

    • Prepare a dish for our potluck lunch. Pick up a tray - labeled entrée, side, or dessert - in the narthex this weekend, and bring it on the 17th.

    • Volunteer for events and activities. See the bulletin for details and contact information.

  3. 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 parish office.

  4. Visit the OLMC Parishioner Portal for all of our recent announcements.

Dear Saints,

Our readings this weekend encourage us to depend on the Lord’s provision. Jesus is sending us on mission, and he will make sure we have what we need to carry it out.

Our Gospel passage has Jesus sending his disciples out as preachers of the kingdom of God. They are to prepare Jesus’ way by proclaiming, “the kingdom of God is at hand.”

Two elements of their commissioning are of particular interest to us:

  1. Jesus orders the disciples to take with them only what they need. They can't be weighed down by material possessions, and need to guard against accumulation of the same.

  2. The disciples are instructed to have no concern for their “success.” They might be embraced or rejected by the people to whom they are sent; it is theirs, simply, to trust and follow Jesus.

Pulling these points together, we see that the disciples’ task is to focus only on their mission: Jesus, having called them, will equip them for the task; he will see that they have what they need to persevere; and he (not they) will determine the effectiveness of their efforts.

We can take this to heart. Jesus entrusts to us his light-bearing mission: We are to bring God’s love to life wherever we go, no matter the challenges and difficulties. Trusting that Jesus will provide what we need, our only task is to follow his call. The only true measure of our success is our faithfulness to him.

I love you, my friends, and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Christ's Peace,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ

PS Join us July 17th. Seriously.

Preparing for Mass?
Check out this weekend's readings:
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

He Sent them out Two by Two
James Tissot, 1886-1896

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