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7/3/22 Father Owen's Bulletin Message
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Dear Parishioners,
As I had mentioned at our weekend masses, in light of the Supreme Court decision which overturned Roe vs. Wade, we thank the Lord our God for this measure in which innocent lives will be saved. We must always remember that the baby in the womb deserves a choice too. That baby wants to be born and to live a life that God will empower him or her to have. As Catholics, we see life as a special gift from God and understand that from the womb to the tomb, all life is sacred. The baby in the womb, the person in prison, the Special Needs child, the elderly who may not be able to sustain themselves, those who are dying and of course, capital punishment. In a civilized society, we pay to protect the weak and the vulnerable and give the necessary food and sustenance to those who have done wrong. At the end of our lives, we come before Jesus our judge. Let us pray for women who are downtrodden and feel they have nowhere to turn. This past Lent, we sacrificed to give a money gift of $15,544.00 to Several Sources. This beautiful mission supports moms who are pregnant, poor, and vulnerable. Let us continue to support charities that truly give women a choice; a choice of empowering them to give their babies life and be gifted human beings in God’s beautiful world.
I was delighted to welcome George Mihalik from Pope John HS, who spoke to us about an exciting new partnership with Reverend Brown School and Pope John HS. It is an exciting new venture which we hope will offer options for parents. We will have an Informational Session on July 20 at 7pm and/or Wednesday, August 10th at 7 pm. Please email us if you plan to attend one of the sessions. For busy parents, A bus will be provided to bring the children and young people directly to and from St. Luke and if there is a need, we can provide after-care.
We were so proud of our Vacation Bible Camp and thank all the leaders, volunteers, and campers for making it a huge success!
I know many people will be away on the July 4th weekend, but I hope that wherever our St. Luke parishioners are, you get to celebrate our great nation. On this weekend and particularly on the 4th, we celebrate the birthday of America. As we look to countries across the world, particularly China which has enslaved Hong Kong and Afghanistan where women are now denied education and where people who have lived ordinary lives are now living in starvation and fear. We must count our blessings, that though our land is flawed because we are human, our democracy gives each person in our land rights and privileges. During election time, we make serious decisions to vote for people that we believe have the necessary skills and morals to continue to lead our great land. Many will remember in the early 60s, when Americans of European extraction began to mingle and many marriages between people such as Irish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Polish took place, families began to celebrate the varied ethnic traditions enjoying the combination of various foods and customs. Our melting pot expands with the merging of families from Asia, the Philippines, Africa, India, and Latin America and so the joy of shared foods and culture continue; the joy of learning from each other, the joy of simply being a family of Americans who work together for a better world. As we look back to our founding fathers, we see our country was very British, very Protestant and very aware of the need to make rules to protect the rights of all. How blessed are we today that in our own voice, in the election process, we as a nation of many colors and religions continue to enrich our children for a future that will be both vibrant and free. Happy 4th!
Fr. Owen