For the next couple of Bulletins, there will be several repeat articles, since I had to print several Bulletins before I left on vacation. However, there will be new commentaries on the readings as usual.
On Monday, August 1, I will go to Boston to visit my family. I will return on August 18. In the meantime if you have an emergency, please call Deacon Mel at 574-707-1231, or email him at mtardy@nd.edu
Father Pete Logsdon, CSC, will be filling in for the Masses on the two Sundays and the Holy Day of Obligation. If you need a priest, Deacon Mel has his contact info.
Father Pete and I go back all the way to Moreau Seminary. He was a year ahead of me. We both served in the Southern Province and were together for many years both in New Orleans and Mexico. Father Pete is now the Assistant Superior at Holy Cross House at Notre Dame. That is our medical facility. Please give him a warm St. Augustine’s welcome.
On August 13, he will be doing our annual Mission Appeal. This year the diocese assigned us the Holy Cross Mission Center. Since both Father Pete and I spent many years in Mexico, he will present the appeal. As you know Holy Cross has missions all over the world, including the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Please be generous.
You can start to plan ahead for our Annual Parish Picnic. I have reserved our usual space at St. Patrick’s County Park for Sunday, August 27, 2017. We have the picnic as close to the Feast of St. Augustine as possible. That date is August 28. Guess what? With our picnic this year we will begin our 90th year as a parish, since we were established as a parish in the diocese in 1928. Time really flies when you are having fun.
God manifests himself in many ways. In our first reading Elijah goes up a mountain and into a cave to see God pass by. There is a strong wind, an earthquake and a fire but it is in the “tiny whispering sound” that Elijah sees God. “When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.”
In our second reading, St. Paul tells the Romans and us that he, a good Jew and Pharisee, has sorrow in his heart for his own people. He met Christ on the road to Damascus and that changed his whole life. He points out that the Jews are God’s chosen people and that Jesus was a Jew as well, but most of his people reject Paul’s preaching and Jesus.
In today’s Gospel, just after Jesus fed the multitude with a few loaves of bread, Jesus goes and prays. This tells us that we need to pray as well. And then we have a powerful manifestation of God. Jesus walks on the water showing his power even over nature. We sometimes forget that Peter walked on the water too at Jesus’ command, “Come.” Peter stepped out of the boat but lost faith and started to sink. Peter prayed, “Lord, save me!” “Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” Peter’s prayer is a good one for us, too, when we are in trouble: “Lord, save me!” Just as with Peter, the Lord will stretch out his hand to us. All we have to do is take his hand, for a closer walk with him.
As Deacon Mel mentions in The Youth Corner, we are looking at having an RCIA class starting in the fall and finishing at Easter next year. If there is anyone interested in becoming Catholic or anyone who is Catholic but missed a sacrament along the way, please see me or Deacon Mel and we can plan accordingly.
Let us continue to pray for peace in the world. Let us also pray for vocations to the church. Let us pray for the sick of the parish. Let us pray that all will come to respect life. Let us pray for one another and for the canonization of Father Tolton.