Dear Friends of OLC and St. Jane Frances,
This weekend, we celebrate the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Our Gospel is a good one for our transition to summer and our preparation for our Pastorate’ mission of proclaiming: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mt 9:36–10:8) It begins with one of those statements of Jesus that I believe offers us a glimpse into his Sacred Heart. Jesus was moved with pity for the crowds of people because they were troubled and abandoned. He wants to help them, but he also knows that he needs people to help him with this mission. In the Gospel, it is the Apostles; but today, it is us! We are the ones who are being sent into the community seek the troubled and abandoned and show them the healing power of Christ at work within us, and within our pastorate. This Summer, may each of us accept Jesus’ invitation for us to be sent out to proclaim, to heal, and to love as Jesus loves.
I am very excited to announce that we’ve hired a Director of Pastorate Operations for our pastorate. Mike Downes will be joining our team in the days ahead. Mike comes with an extensive resume of work in the Archdiocese, including being the Director of the Msgr. O’Dwyer Retreat House, and a stint as Youth Minister at St. Jane Frances back in the mid-1990s. Mike’s main areas of responsibility will be to oversee the Pastorate’s facilities (including leases and rentals), building repairs and maintenance, technology (internet, phone, website, etc.), and office operations (Ministry Platform, bulletin, etc.) with some collaborative work with the parishes’ finances, although not a direct area of responsibility. He will have direct managerial responsibility for the staff working in these areas. Please join me in welcoming Mike to our Pastorate!
On Saturday, June 24th, the Archdiocese will be celebrating the ordination of eight men to the Priesthood. This is probably the largest ordination class in the past 30 years, if not longer. The Ordination Mass begins at 10:00am at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, and will be livestreamed on the Cathedral’s webpage if you would like to watch. In light of this weekend’s Gospel reading, please continue to pray for vocations – asking “the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Finally, please plan to join us for the 8:30am Mass on the Fourth of July at St. Jane Frances. Kevin Garner and the music ministry from OLC will be there to celebrate with all members of the Pastorate. Please plan to join us and celebrate together with us.
Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake in your daily prayers!
God Bless,
Father Steve
