Summertime – time for?

It is interesting to see how the high school graduates are so aware that this is (as they see it) their last summer! The groups and sub-groups of graduating seniors are already being broken up, and that experience adds a note of melancholy to the otherwise exuberant round of parties and celebrations! They can’t – try as they may – freeze this unique moment in time. However, they can use it wisely and joyfully. Neither can we more realistic “mature adults” freeze moments in time. So, let’s not be bashful about enjoying some summer fun but be certain to schedule God in your plans. Read a good book but make it a spiritual one! Maybe a book about prayer or the life of a saint. Once you get started you will be glad you chose “God’s Message” before plunging into another novel or romance and action offering!

Remember to include God in your plans; don’t schedule him out!

In a short while I will be leading a group of our parish young adults to Medjugorje on their annual Youth Festival. In the last 42 years, over 35 million people have gone as pilgrims to this small Bosnian village – formerly in Yugoslavia – to draw closer to Jesus and Mary at this site where countless apparitions of our Blessed Mother are alleged to have occurred. The Vatican is now encouraging the faithful to go with their pastors, while reserving the final word to itself as to the supernatural character of apparitions. Countless conversions have occurred, many millions of confessions, thousands of healings are reported, plus great numbers of vocations to the priesthood and religious life!  The spiritual fruit is undeniable. Other supernatural events occur regularly! Many pilgrims come more than once. Please keep our young pilgrims in your prayers. They have made great sacrifices to go. They have promised to remember us in their prayers.

I am enthusiastic about Medjugorje because I’ve seen these events as bringing joy, confidence, and spiritual strength to our faithful young people, something in very short supply today! Going to Medjugorje they will see great power in worship and proclamation of the Gospel not often found elsewhere! When they return, they will be sharing with the parish the fruits of their journey. They thank you for your support!

The Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer

On some Sundays in the summer, church attendance grinds down a bit lower than usual! On the other hand, I hope that our upstate and out of state Catholic churches are seeing an uptick!  

Our own diocesan “East End” churches also welcome their new “summer friends”, some of whom resurface every year! Hopefully many of our members are filling those “out of town” church pews these days? Yes, we all need a vacation not from church, but from the anxieties and distresses of daily living. 

If due to inflation you have been forced to scale down your summer plans, take time to muster some courage to step beyond complaining, to praise God for what we do have. Relative scarcity even helps us at times to appreciate the blessings we do enjoy. Remember, the sunset over the water looks just as beautiful from the shoreline of a small-town park as it does from the upper deck of a fifty-foot yacht! The basic goal of our Christian spiritual journey is to learn to trust God. St. Paul says that God taught him how to live with scarcity! In all circumstances let us not take our eyes off Jesus. We can take time to offer a short prayer for people who experience the horrors of war and heartbreak of family strife.

Every week we see some progress on our re-purposed 3-car garage (soon to be counseling center.) We just received the Suffolk County Board of Health approval for our septic system – another hurdle cleared! Living Waters Catholic Therapeutic Counseling Center will be our first tenant. We are hoping that the Center will be up and running sometime around Labor Day!

Carol Rubano, Director of the Center, will speak to the parish at the Masses one Sunday in the weeks to come. We will have a dedication ceremony in the fall hopefully with our vicar Bishop Coyle presiding. The Center has been using the old convent building at St. Elizabeth’s Parish in Melville; ours is a smaller building but should be very serviceable for their needs! 

The presence of the Center on our grounds will be a distinct blessing to our parish. The building is well designed inside and out, and once the interior is more complete, we will schedule a “walk through” for parishioners!

The Fourth of July 

This wonderful summertime holiday deserves special celebration this year. Yes, a particularly ugly war has broken out in Europe, and of course as a nation we are involved; so, there is a lot to be grave and sober about! Back at home, we may have the BBQ warmed up and ready to go! Hopefully a generous number of relatives and friends will be on hand to celebrate. 

Yes, we have a great country and can be legitimately proud of it; we are far from perfect but improving all the time (Just to put things in perspective). We don’t see large numbers of people trying to enter other countries as they do into the USA. 

The whole world thinks “Freedom and Opportunity” when America is mentioned. If we do our part in our time and use our resources well, that will remain true to coming generations. And to the tasks God has given us! 

Happy Fourth of July, and please remember, Safety First!