“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’  Let the hearer say, ‘Come.’  Let the one who thirsts come forward, and the one who wants it receive the gift of life-giving water” (Rev. 22:17).

This comes from our second reading this weekend from the Book of Revelation.  Saint John, the same author as the Gospel of John, and the Letters of John, also wrote the Book of Revelation.  Many times, this Book can confuse us with the visions and the seemingly craziness of details - 7 heads and 7 cities and servants and so forth.  But not this passage from Revelation that we find towards the end of the Book.  This passage is quite perfect, and also very easy to understand.  When you read it, you almost hear our Lord in your soul beckoning you. 

I would like each of us to read this short passage every day this week.  Stop moving. Stop doing your daily chores. Get away from your children for 5 minutes. Silence your mind and read this passage from John.  Don’t let the world’s noise overtake you. Just sit with this passage for 5 minutes.  Also, don’t speak to God.  Whatever He has to say to us is infinitely more important than whatever we have to say to Him.  Simply read this passage and let the words of John seep into your soul.  Homework?  Not quite. Consider it a prescription for your soul.

A few updates:

1)  I would like to express my gratitude for all of those on our Garden Committee for their wonderful work over the last few months.  The Lord truly is gracious and works through you to create something from your gifts He has given to you in order to feed the hungry of our community at large.  Thank you for living out the Gospel.  Thank you also to all of our wonderful parishioners who will be taking care of the Garden over the next few months.  And pray for me, as I have no idea what I’m doing as a gardener.  I will say, however, to the landscape architect who has a plot right next to mine, “You’re going down.” Let the gardening competition begin (just kidding).  We will continue to need help with planting and maintaining the garden so please, if you haven’t already done so, continue to reach out to us and ask what needs to be done. And feel free to simply take a stroll in the garden as it will be a holy space on campus as well.

2)  Thank you to Sister Diane, Deacon Vince, the school, the CYO and the rest of the 40 Hours and May Procession committee.  We were able to celebrate what defines our Parish this past weekend: a community centered around the Eucharist, and it was beautiful. Thank you to the May court for your reverent devotion to our Blessed Mother and to our 8th grade, altar servers, and first Holy Communicants for your participation in the Feast of the Visitation.

3)  Please prayerfully consider donating to the parking lot project. We will be repaving the parking lot over the summer and are in need of your generosity in order to do so.  We all use it and we need to get it done.  Please take home with you the yellow envelope in the pews and return it during the course of the summer. Thank you in advance for your generous support.

After this past weekend, let us rest in the beautiful words found in the Book of Revelation this weekend.  May we be grateful for the gifts our Father gives to us through our Parish family.

May the Lord give you His peace,

Fr. Bob