Dear Friends of our Pastorate,
Our readings for this 12th Week in Ordinary Time remind us to trust in the Lord to bring calm to the storms of our lives. Although to us, it may seem at times that God is “asleep” or that God is disinterested in our problems or struggles, that is far from the truth. The Lord is present to us when we turn to him in faith and trust, not telling him our plans for how to resolve our problems, but instead asking God for his plans to unfold for us – that his will be done. That’s a lot of Trust! But God’s ways are always going to be better than our ways, so I believe it is worth the risk.
This weekend, our Archdiocese welcomes 6 new priests are to be ordained on Saturday, June 22nd, at 10:00AM at the Cathedral. All are invited to attend. Please join me in welcoming the soon to be Frs. Angel Acuna, Daniel Andrades, Franz Belleza, Mike Misulia, Lenin Suarez, and Zach Watson to the Priesthood of the Archdiocese of Baltimore! Please continue to pray for vocations to the Priesthood and Consecrated Religious Life so that more men and women will respond generously to God’s call to serve the people of God in the Church.
This weekend is Fr. Jim’s final weekend for Masses at St. Jane Frances. He will be celebrating all of the Sunday Masses, and there will be farewell reception for him following the 11:30am Mass in the Parish Hall. His last weekend at OLC will be June 29-30. We wish Fr. Jim well at his new assignment, and we especially thank him for his two years of dedicated service to our Pastorate.
Our Pastorate has a group of teens and adults leaving this Sunday for Appalachia Work Camp. This program has been ongoing for many years. The volunteers will be working on repairing homes in Terra Alta, West Virginia. In the evenings, they will gather for prayer and fellowship—to share their experiences and see how God is working in and through them as they serve others. Fr. Jim and I will also be away this week at the annual Archdiocesan Priests Retreat being held at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore. Please keep the Appalachia Work Camp participants, as well as Fr. Jim and me, in your prayers this week.
Tax free donations (nothing will go to the Archdiocese) are being accepted for the St. Jane School Roof Replacement project and the OLC Clerestory and Roof project on our online giving platforms. Links to online giving can be found on our websites. This is also a great way to maintain consistent giving to your parish when you traveling this summer, so please consider signing up for online giving at GiveCentral (OLC) or ParishSoft (SJF). Thanks Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation—St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—in your daily prayers!
God Bless,
Father Steve
