Dear Friends of St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake,
This weekend, we celebrate the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time. This weekend’s Gospel is another parable from Jesus involving the sowing of seed (Mt 13:24-43). This parable speaks to us of how the Lord sows good seed, but the evil one sows weeds with the good seed. It is difficult to pull the weeds without damaging the good seed. Any of us who have planted gardens know how challenging this can be. Weeds seem to grow and thrive in the absolute worst conditions. If we try to remove them while the good seed is growing, we tend to damage the good plants. The parable tells us that at harvest time, the Lord will separate the good plants from the weeds. One of the messages for us is to continue to do the good works we have been instructed to do as Jesus’ disciples and not worry about what others are doing. It is the Lord who sees our good works, and He will be the one to ultimately separate the good from the bad. So remain faithful to the mission entrusted to you, produce good fruit, and trust that the Lord will take care of the rest.
We have completed our Pastorate Synodal Listening Sessions this past week. I would like to thank everyone who took the time to attend one of the four sessions we offered over the past two weeks. I would also like to thank our Parish Renewal Team members, Wayne Ripley and Becky Kamen, for helping our pastorate to begin the process of discerning our vision for our future. There is still much work to be done, but we are now beginning to walk the path toward our future. I will publish the findings of our listening sessions once they have been compiled. If you were not able to attend but would still like to contribute, please feel free to send me your vision for our future. What are your hopes for our pastorate in the next five years? What can we do to begin moving toward those hopes and dreams? What can the pastorate do to support you in reaching them?
Summer vacation season is in full swing. I hope and pray that everyone will have a chance to relax and enjoy the remaining days of summer. Fr. Jim and I will be going on vacations over the next month. In fact, between today and September 2nd, between our different vacation and retreat plans, we will only be together at the pastorate a total of 7 days! There are still many things happening behind the scenes, so stay informed by reading our bulletin and receiving our Flocknote announcements.
Finally, please welcome priests from Cross Catholic Outreach to both parishes in the coming days. Fr. Collins will be at St. Jane Frances this weekend, and another priest will be at OLC the weekend of July 29–30.
Thank you for keeping our Pastorate in your daily prayers!
God Bless,
Father Steve
