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21 June 2020, 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Friends,

Having celebrated a host of Solemnities commemorating some of the most treasured

truths of our Catholic faith, we now settle back into Ordinary Time on this 12th Sunday of the Liturgical Year. The Latin word ordinalis, which refers to numbers in a series, stems from the Latin ordo, from which “order” in the English is derived. Thus, Ordinary Time is the “ordered” life of the Church—the period in which we live our lives neither in feasting (as in the Christmas and Easter seasons) nor in fasting and penance (as in Advent and Lent) but, rather, in waiting and watching for the Second Coming of Christ. Ordinary Time is divided into two numbered periods. There are 28 weeks of Ordinary Time after Easter and 5 weeks of Ordinary Time after Christmas. However, this varies with the date on which Easter falls in a particular year. The actual number of weeks of Ordinary Time in any given year can total 33 or 34.

In today’s readings, we are called to be watchful and to fear no one except the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna (Matthew 10: 28). This reference applies equally to God and the Devil. While God has the ultimate power to judge, we know the Devil has the sinister power to lead astray toward ruination of the soul. We must all remain watchful of the many deceptive tactics he employs and trust in our merciful God. As a providential Father, He cares for each and every one of us and asks only that we bear witness to His love in the world.

A perfect segue, I take this opportunity to wish all of our wonderful and dedicated fathers a blessed and Happy Father’s Day! When God-fearing men live their vocation with integrity, they give witness to the love of the Father in heaven. We salute our dads for their commitment to living heroic lives worthy of sainthood.

The past two Saturdays, we had the privilege of celebrating First Reconciliation with 70 of our SJE Kids. It is always such a joy to witness the love and commitment of our faith- filled parents as they bring their children to meet Jesus in this great sacrament of love and mercy. A special thank you to our dedicated team of Catechists for their perseverance in continuing to prepare for First Communion later this summer.

I take this opportunity to thank Jim Mascarenhas for his ministry to the youth during the last three years. We wish him God’s blessings in his move to a parish on the west coast closer to his fiancé. In addition, I am happy to announce Charlene Robinson as our new Life Teen Minister. During the last two years, she has led the EDGE program and is very familiar with our teens. We wish her all the best in her endeavors to lead our youth closer to Jesus.

We are finally catching up with our “Family of the Month” awards. I thank the Knights for their dedication and Ken Mader for his leadership. This week, we had the distinct honor of recognizing the families of John and Joella Prokopowicz, Lou and Judy Permanente, and Richard and Barbara Bossler. These dedicated men and women have spent many hours behind the scenes working on various projects in and around the parish, adding to the vibrancy of our warm and welcoming parish. Congratulations and thank you all for your service!

Be Blessed! With love,

Fr. John