From Our Pastor: 20th Sunday In Ordinary Time

All of our readings this weekend are focused on the foreigner! We were told that the foreigners will be brought to the mountain of the Lord and the house of prayer. This concept is outlandish to the Israelites, but has been promised over and over especially here in Isaiah. Paul talks to the gentiles of mercy. And today, this Canaanite woman cries out for Jesus to free her possessed daughter. Her persistence and her understanding of who Jesus is and what He has come to do, bring about her daughter’s deliverance. We hear these stories and think of the fact that Jesus calls us to reach out to the neglected and outcast and foreigner, but we also must remember these stories are also about you and I. We are foreigners. Not just because we aren’t Jewish, but because we aren’t made for this world. The word pariah is the root of the word parishioner. We are not made for here but for the world to come. So may we come to the mountain to the Lord. May we come to seek His mercy. May we cry out “Have pity on me Lord, Son of David.” May we remain persistent and understand who Jesus is and where we are made to be! In heaven.

I wanted to thank everybody for their patience in my time of being away for World Youth Day! Thank you to Fr. Rafal and Thomas for holding down the fort while I was away and Fr. Bob for some coverage help. What a wonderful experience, and I look forward to sharing more of that with you in the future. Someone has asked me to gather the group that went to reflect and answer questions for everybody and I think that would be a wonderful evening. Look for details in the near future. I did not expect to be sick this last week, and I am very sorry that I will be playing catch-up. for sometime now.

I also wanted to say thank you to Thomas Marten, our Seminarian this summer. What a joy it has been to spend the summer with him and have his presence in our parish! His visits to the homebound and nursing homes, his organizational skills around the sacristy and my office, and his joy that he generally brings, has been a delight. I can’t say enough wonderful things about him. Please send him notes and gifts of gratitude at seminary. I dropped the ball in having a going away celebration before he left. So if you can, send him a token of our appreciation. Pray for him and all of our seminarians. Thomas you will always have a home here at St. Francis! Pray for Fr. Rafal as he journeys home to see his mom, as he goes on retreat, and for safe travels.

Lastly welcome back to school and thank you to Mrs. Radel and all the faculty and staff for their hard work in preparing for this year and a wonderful start! It’s good to see the life back around our building and the ones across the street at QU! Welcome to you all.

-Rev. Steven Arisman