Dear Friends of our Pastorate of the Visitation,
This weekend, we celebrate the twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time. This is also Father’s Day, so we would like to wish all of our fathers, grandfathers, godfathers, and the father figures of our lives a very happy and blessed Father’s Day. There will be a special Father’s Day blessing at all Masses this weekend.
Our readings today remind us of our need to trust in the Lord, even when things seem too difficult or impossible to resolve. This can be challenging when we cannot see our way through a situation or a problem, but if we lose hope in the Lord, what else do we have to lean upon? Jesus reminds us to turn to the Father and rely on His mercy and compassion. Even in the first reading, the prophet Jeremiah says to always sing praise to the Lord, for the Lord rescues “the life of the poor from the power of the wicked.” The grace of God will always lead us through the difficulties of life, so turn to the Lord in Eucharistic adoration, in your prayers, and in the loving support of family and friends to get through the difficult days, because for every Good Friday, there is an Easter Sunday waiting to dawn upon us!
As Fr. John’s time with us comes to a close, we have a couple of Farewell and Thank You celebrations planned over the next two weekends. This Sunday, June 21st, there will be a Farewell and Thank You gathering in the St. Jane Frances Parish Hall following the 11:30am Mass. The following Sunday, June 28th, there will be a Farewell and Thank You celebration at OLC in the Gathering Place following the 8:30am and 10:45am Masses. Please stop by at either event to thank Fr. John and wish him well at his new full time assignment at Mount St. Joe’s. A special thanks to all of the volunteers who are helping to organize both events!
We will be welcoming priests from Cross Catholic Outreach to the Pastorate on the weekend of July 4–5. According to their website, Cross Catholic Outreach is “a Catholic Ministry that partners with bishops, priests, religious and lay workers to provide food, water, housing, education, orphan support, medical care, microenterprise and disaster relief—and the love of our Lord Jesus Christ—to the poorest of the poor in over 30 countries around the world.” They will be speaking about the great works accomplished by the missionaries at Cross Catholic Outreach. There is no collection taken up, but there will be brochures and envelopes available if you would like to make a donation to the organization. The pastorate will also be forwarding the proceeds from the Missionary Coop collection in July to them as well. Thank you for your generosity.
There is still time to sign up for Vacation Bible School (VBS) this summer at both St. Jane Frances and Our Lady of the Chesapeake. Vacation Bible Camp at SJF runs from July 13–17 in the evenings from 5:00pm to 8:00pm and at OLC from July 20–24 in the mornings from 9:00am to 12:00pm. I hope your children will be able to join us for either (or both!) this summer. Registration information is included in the bulletin.
Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation—St. Jane Frances de Chantal and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—in your daily prayers!
God Bless,
Father Steve
