From Our Pastor: 16th Sunday In Ordinary Time
We hear a call to repentance, the parable of the kingdom of the wheat and the weeds, and other parables telling us about the Kingdom of Heaven. These all should give us pause. God tells us in the book of Wisdom of God’s might and power and the hope of God’s love for His children. Through that we hope to repent from our sins out of love for an all-powerful loving Father who is Lord.
He warns us what that looks like in the Gospel. He tells us that He sows abundantly, but that some weeds are in the field as well. They are allowed to continue to grow with the wheat to keep from uprooting the wheat in removing the weeds. The weeds are burned, and the wheat is gathered into the barn. This is a warning to repent as Wisdom calls us to, so that we are wheat and not weeds. Jesus doesn’t leave us there in that bleak warning. He gives us hope for what we are called to be.
This brings us to the parable of the mustard seed and the yeast. The smallest and seemingly insignificant thing as a mustard seed or yeast, but yet they both create great growth and abundance of life. Jesus is telling us to be life and light and yeast and seed for the world. We are called to bring growth and eternal life to others by bringing them Christ, who is the seed and the yeast and the sower. Yet he also calls you to be the same.
A couple of weeks ago I went to see the Sound of Freedom movie with my parents. If you have not yet seen it, wow it’s worth the time and money. It is a difficult subject, so obviously not for kids, but high schoolers probably need to be aware somewhere in there of this subject matter for their own sake and their own safety. This is in our backyard and not just far away. We don’t live in fear, but we use light to conquer the darkness. This movie brings the light into this dark subject so that it may be conquered. It is not egregiously awful like Hollywood movies would normally treat this subject, but instead its heart wrenching and moving and a compelling story. It is worthwhile and something everyone should be aware is becoming even more of a problem in our society and that it is everywhere. We must stand for morality and love. We need to call for change in the lives of all in our world to Christ.
In a few weeks a small group of us are heading to World Youth Day to see the Holy Father, Pope Francis, and gather with youth and young people from around the world! Most of the group going is from Quincy! It will be a great spiritual opportunity of pilgrimage. Know I will be carrying your prayers with me, and please pray for the group as we head on this journey! I will be gone from July 31 to August 11. Please know I will be mostly unreachable during this time.
Lastly, last week we hosted 32 priests, seminarians, and the Bishop. We had the Quincy priests, including the Franciscans here, and the seminarians and their pastors they are assigned to and Bishop Paprocki. A few couldn’t make it, but it was a great turn out and event. What a fun evening! Thanks to some of the men of the parish, for grilling our steaks, and thanks to Thomas Marten, our seminarian, for the gourmet meal! It was a great opportunity of community and sharing of priesthood! What a joy, and I wanted to share that with you all! Pray for the Bishop, pray for priests, and pray for more priests!
-Rev. Steven Arisman