Pentecost VIII
Daily Sermons
July 2 – Fr. Lehtoranta – Arise, Make Haste & Come
July 3 – Fr. Lehtoranta – Blessed Peter of Luxembourg
July 15 – Fr. Lehtoranta – Girls’ Camp I: The Modesty of Judith
July 16 – Fr. Lehtoranta – Girls’ Camp II: The Nail of Jahel
July 17 – Fr. Lehtoranta – Girls’ Camp III: Rahab, A Flower of Godliness
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✠ The Bishop’s Corner ✠
The baseball people must have been really praying Monday night, as the predicted rain never came, and it turned out to be a rather pleasant evening. We had to cancel earlier in the day, as so many come from afar for this observance. God’s holy will be done. We prayed away the evening in church, and a good group of you joined us. I must say, that although I regretted the loss of the procession (and we had even prepared nice handout leaflets for curious passersby) I do love saying all fifteen decades in front of the Mother of Perpetual Help Icon, under her eyes, gazing upon her face, her Child, and the archangels. The Eastern way of praying with icons is most refreshing to the soul. Well, may God have heard our Rosary prayer, and spare many souls from the fires of hell by devotion to the Immaculate Heart.
Life is full of surprises. Just when you would least expect it, last Tuesday night, we had a perfectly beautiful evening, out of the blue, a little gift of grace. You could almost have missed it. Another gift, and a so refreshing one for us and you both, has been the surprisingly good Mass attendance this July. While many are missing on Sunday due to travels and vacation, still others are showing up at daily masses. How encouraging! May the Blood of our salvation be offered and received by many souls daily and devoutly. The attendance during Girls’ Camp was wonderful.
The good weather continued through the three days of the Girls’ Camp, no doubt appreciated by the girls (who numbered the biblical forty) as well as by the ladies and the Sisters. A good time seems to have been had by all during this annual, and very important, apostolate. How grateful we are to the ladies who organized and staffed the camp as well as to the Sisters who so generously came from afar, and whose presence makes such a difference. Finally, we could not do it without you. Thank you for your kind contributions of time, food, and money.
Fr. Lehtoranta prepared an excellent and instructive series of three sermons, especially for the girls, based on biblical heroines from the Old Testament. Thank you, Father!
Fr. Cekada celebrated his birthday yesterday in his hometown of Milwaukee, where he is offering Mass today. Fr. McKenna spent his week here “catching up” on things, and finishing his preparations for Boys’ Camp next week. Fr. Arnoldo Villegas seems to have enjoyed his visit with us, which enabled him to spend some time with brother priests in our green and verdant setting of St. Gertrude the Great. We were able to discuss a number of practical questions, as priests do among themselves, or with a bishop.
Yesterday we remembered the soul of Ruth Higdon with a proper Requiem Mass. Tomorrow, or even today, write out your request for such a Mass, and leave it with family and a copy here at church. It is sad to see so many who were so faithful in life denied the final suffrages of a Christian, or subjected to the ceremonies of the new religion.
Travel is at its peak in July. Some of the faithful report good trips to faraway France where they saw Fr. Hecquard as well as the shrine of Lourdes; as well as closer locations such as Niagara Falls and St. Ignace in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. When some of our faithful visited on a Tuesday, they found themselves at St. Anthony’s Rock, having just prayed his novena! Go with prayer, and you will go well.
God bless you and the angels keep you safe!
–Bp. Dolan