Dear St. Louis Parishioners,
With the gentle strength of the Father, our Good Shepherd guides us. It is his rod and his staff which gives us comfort. Yet, this comfort is not meant to be understood in terms of what Pope Francis was referring to at World Youth Day 2016, when he coined the term “sofa-happiness” (see illustration below). The comfort the Lord gives is not of the sort that makes us sink into a lazy place of stagnation and complacency. The comfort He gives strengthens us, emboldens us, empowers us. When we reflect upon the Good Shepherd window (front cover), which is found in the back sacristy, attached to the confessional, let us recall that He guides us home to the Father’s throne, where we receive His blessing (Daniel 7:27). This blessing is our strength. He sends us with the gift of His very life within us, by the grace of the Sacraments and nurtured through a life of ongoing prayer and virtue. So, while we go forth from the Father’s throne, we go forth to remain with Him. It is for this reason that Saint Paul can say, in this weekend’s second reading, “We are always courageous... for we walk by faith, not by sight.” Paul understood profoundly that his heroic faith, which enabled him to become such a shiny example for all of us, was rooted in the Father (spend time praying with chapter 8 of Ro-
mans). May we have the same faith, that we may receive that comfort of the Father, given to us through His Son, the Good Shepherd, the comfort that strengthens.
And may we thank and honor our fathers, who have been those examples and models for our us of the love and strength of the Father. Their vocation is a lofty one indeed, to reflect God, the Father. Yet, God called them to this vocation for sake of us, who benefit from their fatherhood. May we honor them with gratitude, respect and prayers.
SCHEDULE CHANGE THIS THURSDAY: Every summer, the Cathedral hosts a beautiful celebration to honor those priests who have blessed the Church with their spiritual fatherhood for many years, especially those celebrating milestone anniversaries of ordination. This Jubilarian Mass is an event in which our bishop strongly urges and
requests all of our priests to come support and honor their brothers. For this reason, I neither will be able to offer the evening Mass this coming Thursday (June 21st), nor am I comfortable asking another priest to cover. So, this Thursday only, our daily Mass will be moved to the morning time (7 AM). For those who still wish to come for prayer at the usual evening time, Deacon John will offer a holy hour (4 PM), with NO confessions and a communion service (5:15) at the usual times. Thanks for your understanding.
PICTORIAL DIRECTORY: Questions have been coming forth about the pictorial directory. We have been working on finalizing the parish information in the opening pages, as summer is a good time to revisit and update certain things for the coming year. We should have the final products back and ready for distribution by the end of July, if not
sooner.
LITURGICAL MINISTRIES: Over the past few weeks, we have been having an usual amount of difficulty with liturgical ministers (altar servers, lectors, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, etc.) showing up and/or finding a substitute for their assigned time on Sunday. So, I just want to place a friendly reminder to please be attentive to your assigned time. Of course, we understand people will have conflicts due to travel in the summer. So, please make sure that in planning for your trips, you include finding a substitute for any ministry for which you or your children may be scheduled. Thank you for your service.
In Christ through Mary,
Fr. Gifford
St. Louis, pray for us!
Blessed Mary, Queen Mother of
the King of Kings, pray for us!