Dear Friends of our Pastorate,
This weekend, we finally return to the Sundays of Ordinary Time with our celebration of the Fourteenth Sunday. Our readings come from Cycle C which is the year we read through the Gospel of Luke. This weekend’s Gospel is the commissioning and sending forth of the 72 disciples to go out and proclaim the kingdom of God and to cure the sick. Jesus says the harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few.
We are in a similar place in our day where we have an abundant harvest of people who do not have a relationship or connection to the Lord, but we are always looking for more people to go into the community to proclaim the kingdom of God to them and offer them the gift of spiritual healing. This mission has been entrusted to us by Jesus himself who told us before His ascension to go and make disciples.
Over the past couple of years, I have been meeting with a dedicated group of parishioners from both parishes known as our Pastorate Mission Team. We have been discussing and reviewing the gifts and blessings our parishes have received over the years as well as the challenges and opportunities we are facing as the Catholic Churches of Pasadena. We are now in the final stretch of composing a Pastorate Plan for Evangelization that will guide us in our task of becoming missionary disciples. Our guiding principle is Archbishop Lori’s pastoral place called “A Light Brightly Visible 3.0” which can be found on the Archdiocesan website (archbalt.org). I invite you to review this document as we prepare to launch our pastorate’s pastoral plan in the coming months.
There is still time to make a donation to the Annual Appeal for Catholic Ministries. Your donations support the many charitable works of the Archdiocese, and a portion of your gifts are returned to our parish. Our parish goals (and donated to date) are as follows:
St. Jane - $57,782 ($44,837) and OLC - $60,379 ($38,690). To make a donation, go to www.archbalt.org and clink on the Giving link. Thank you for your support of the Annual Appeal for Catholic Ministries.
OLC is sponsoring a Men’s Breakfast on Saturday, July 26th at the Rumor Reel. This ticketed event will run from 8:30am to 10:30am, and our guest speaker will be Orioles legend, Scott McGregor. Scott will be sharing his inspiring story about how God and his faith shaped his life, both during his playing career and after retirement. All men of our pastorate (and your friends) are invited to attend. Tickets are $35 each, limited to 130 seats. Go to OLC’s website and click on Give Central to purchase your tickets or see the bulletin for more details.
Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation—Our Lady of the Chesapeake and St. Jane Frances—in your daily prayers!
God Bless,
Father Steve
