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A blessed Father’s Day to all the men of the parish. A great deal of the conflict and unrest in our society, and particularly our country, can be traced back to broken homes and broken hearts. Many of those whom I encountered in my years at YDC as juveniles in trouble had poor father figures or no father figures in their lives. Not to have a relationship with a good father and mother sets a young person up for a very troubled, and often times tragic, life! In all of the solutions proposed by politicians and others regarding the unrest in our country, none of them seem brave enough to mention the obvious—the disintegration of the family!
On this holiday weekend, when we show appreciation for the gift of fatherhood, let us remember how blessed we are to have experienced wonderful dads in our lives. And let us pray for those individuals about the world who have been robbed of the gift of a true, human father. We are all blessed with a Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ. May we never forget our Heavenly Father is the one who ultimately provides for all of our needs, is compassionate, loving, merciful and forgiving!
Even the savior of the world was in need of a human foster-father! God bless all of those men who step forward in the lives of others and fulfill that role-model for the most vulnerable. All youth of every culture and nation need good and holy parents. Those of us who have been blessed with such parents need to do our part to help those who have not been so blessed.
Speaking of tremendous blessings, we rejoice with our senior graduates who have served in our parishes at the altar of God. Our graduating senior altar servers are Dale Data of Shenango H. S., Vincent L. Fuleno of Union Area H. S., Blake Lahr of Wilmington Area H. S., Rebekah Seamans of Neshannock H. S. and Amanda Trinckes of Hubbard H. S. (See their pictures and bios on page 13.) It has been my privilege and the privilege of the other priests and deacons in the parish to have served with these young people. We pray that God protects and blesses them as they begin this new chapter in their lives. We are very grateful to them for their service in the parish and hope that they will continue to be involved in their Catholic faith, whether on a college campus or in our parish while they are still living at home. We also extend congratulations to all of those who have graduated during these unusual times. Our high school, college and 8 th grade graduates, may God bless you all and strengthen you with the power of his Holy Spirit as you continue to mature and grow in grace and wisdom.
We are diligently trying to get the names of all our graduating high school seniors to congratulate them. We have been calling all of the school districts and trying to sort out which ones belong to us since our databases are not always the most accurate. If you can assist us in this regard so we do not miss anyone we would greatly appreciate it. Please email your student’s full name and school district to sdexter@hsplc.org no later than June 23, 2020.
On the 27th of June, we will be celebrating two very special people in our midst. Deacon Matthew Hawkins will be ordained a priest at St. Paul Cathedral at the 10 am ordination ceremony in Pittsburgh, Saturday, see bulletin pg. 7. Sr. Barbara Ann Johnston will be retiring after over 20 years of service at St. Camillus and Holy Spirit. Her 60th anniversary as a Sister of St. Joseph was in March in the middle of the pandemic when no events were possible. See page 12 detailing a drive-thru parade for Sr. Barb at St. Camillus following the 4:00 pm parking lot Mass at Sears on June 27.
God love you,
