St. Paul reminds us that we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.
These are of course the angels and saints who witness to the merciful love of
God in Christ Jesus. The Greek word for witness is martyrion from which we get
the word 'martyr.' Witnesses of Jesus give their lives for the sake of the Gospel.
They sacrifice everything for the sake of the Lord and His glory. These are the
witnesses who surround us, who support us, who remind us all the sacrifices we
make on Jesus' behalf are all worth it. They encourage us to keep the faith and
pray for the strength to give our all to God each day. All our sacrifices and
sufferings offered to Jesus become incredibly fruitful just as the blood of the
martyrs bears great fruit for the life of the Church. As the communion of saints in heaven increases with the years, the Church on earth is able to bear through more and more suffering because of their prayers. I often ask my deceased friends and family, especially my grandparents, for their prayers. Made perfect in love, the saints pray for us with great power in Jesus.

We had a wonderful parish picnic last Saturday after Mass! Thank you to all our volunteers who prepared the meal and food to share, and to those who helped with setup and cleanup. When we gather as a parish family for worship, prayer, and fun social events like this picnic, we strengthen our bonds as brothers and sisters in Christ in the family of God and communion of the saints.

Inspired by the National Eucharistic Revival and our Listening Sessions, I will be speaking at the Masses at which I preside the next two weeks on a few liturgical reminders and updates, and publishing these updates in the bulletin on those weekends. These reminders will focus on our unity as a family in Christ as a Church, fostering a welcoming environment, and deepening our respect and reverence for the liturgy. I am already working with our clergy and ministry leaders to invite new people into our liturgical ministries and hold training/refresher sessions this Fall for ministers. We will be focusing on parish stewardship this Fall, so please prayerfully consider how Christ might be calling you and your family to serve at our parish in one or more of our many ministries.

Please remember that the Solemnity of the Assumption on Monday, August 15 is NOT a holy day of obligation this year since it falls on a Monday. We will have Mass at St. Mary's at the usual 7:30 am Mass time to celebrate the Assumption.