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June 26, 2022
What is God's Will?
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Thank you to everyone who kept me and our critical incident team in your prayers during this past week as we served the law enforcement community which was exposed to the horrific killings in Buffalo, New York. I could feel the comfort and power of your prayers. Never underestimate the power of God’s grace when we implore his help!
On a much happier note, we are delighted to welcome back our children this week for Vacation Bible School! My sincere gratitude to Kathy Gabriel and all the adult volunteers who work to make this a successful event. I’m also grateful to the parents and our many volunteers who make this fun and educational time possible for our children and our teens. The teen mentors who help this week are extremely important and have a powerful influence on our little ones. Kathy Gabriel let us know that the week before the camp, she had as many as 17 teens who volunteered to participate and another 80 young ones signed up to take the Tracking Mary Train of Vacation Bible School. I am also very proud of our newly confirmed who are boldly putting their faith into action by helping in this year’s Vacation Bible School.
Speaking of our young people, please keep in your prayers and help to
support our teens who explore social outreach missions in the summer.
This year’s group traveled to Cumberland, Maryland for a Catholic Heart Work Camp from June 19th through June 25th. The Camp provided our teens with opportunities to restore homes, feed the hungry, lift the spirits of children, bring joy to the elderly and disabled and offer assistance to social agencies. The theme for 2022 on their website says “Jesus takes the world’s view and turns it upside down. God’s ways are not our ways, they are better.” Many thanks to Angie Seman of Holy Spirit who organized and chaperoned the trip as well as beginning hoagie sales again to support it.
In the Gospel this weekend, our Lord reminds us of the challenge of
discipleship. Jesus calls us to “follow Him.” This is what it means to be a disciple. Not that we tell the Lord what to do, but that we are open to His will! Thank you to everyone who has participated in viewing our Feasibility Study and sharing your thoughts through the Survey or the in person meeting we had on June 9th. Being honest with the facts and with ourselves and with each other, and especially with God, is critical in making any good decision. Stripping away self-interest and selfish motives is always difficult in a broken world. But by the grace of God and the virtues of humility and honesty, we can all eventually come to what is God’s will over our own will.
I am sincerely grateful for your prayers and for your participation in a spirit of respect, honesty, and integrity. May we not only hear the Lord calling us to follow Him, but all of us have the courage and fortitude to do just that!
God love you,
