This Sunday is the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Gospel comes to us from Matthew 20:1-16a. Jesus tells his disciples a parable about a generous landowner. He hires laborers at dawn, at nine o’clock, at noon, at three in the afternoon and at five o’clock. At the end of the day, he pays all of the laborers the same wage. Those hired first were not pleased with this. The landowner, however, has cheated no one. Those hired first agreed to work for the usual daily wage. They received the agreed upon wage. The landowner is free to do as he wishes with his money. He is free to be generous to those hired later in the day.

   This Sunday marks the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The first reading from Sirach (27:30 – 28:9) and the Gospel reading from Matthew (18:21-35) both speak to us of the need for forgiveness. More specifically, we cannot ask the Lord to forgive us if we are unwilling to forgive others.

     This Sunday is the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. All three readings speak to us of the need for us to care for one another. The prophet Ezekiel (33:7-9) is called to speak God’s word to “the house of Israel.” Some will accept it and others will not. Nevertheless, Ezekiel’s mission is to “warn them” and “speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way.”

Faith and fear. We are called to live by faith and not by fear. Faith liberates and fear paralyzes. Simon Peter would go on to give his life for his Lord and Savior. Still, he would  deny three times that he even knew Jesus. If we reflect on our lives, we find that faith and fear are in constant tension. We profess our faith in every Sunday Mass, yet can be afraid to live our faith boldly in our daily lives. It can be a fear of “offending” others or fear of non-acceptance (by friends or co-workers).

Beginning September 3, 2020 an hour of Eucharistic Adoration will be available at St. Patrick. Adoration will begin at 7:00 pm and end at 8:00 pm on the first Thursday of every month. All are invited to attend! Social distancing and wearing of masks is required.

  This weekend, August 22nd and 23rd, our parish is very happy to welcome a Priest from the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus. They will speak at all the Masses about the work that they do in over thirty countries of Africa, Europe, the Americas and Asia.

“O Woman, great is your faith!” These are the words spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ to the Canaanite woman in the Gospel for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew 15:21-28). She is a Canaanite (part of the pagan people to the west and north of Israel).

How often does the Lord speak to us in unexpected ways?  So often in Sacred Scripture we see God choosing the unlikeliest of people and working in the unlikeliest of ways to fulfill His purposes.  God’s ways are not our ways.  God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son to save us from our sins.  The Son of Man came not in glory, but in humility, so as to reconcile us to the Father by His life, death and resurrection.

“They all ate and were satisfied…” The Gospel for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time is from Matthew (14:13-21). It is the account of the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and the fish. Our Blessed Lord not only fed the multitudes, but there were twelve, full wicker baskets left over.

Glorious! Amazing! Inspiring! Incredible!! These are words that describe The FEST@Home on Sunday, August 9, 2020. Nine national Christian bands (Casting Crowns, for King & Country, Matthew West, Danny Gokey, Matt Maher, Building 429, Colton Dixon, Jordan Feliz, We Are Messengers) will come to your home with amazing music to inspire you to a great faith and trust in the Lord. The FEST website will be your MAIN Stage to listen to the music while you can go “visit” kids activities, listen to inspiring speakers, and learn about ways to strengthen your faith and family at the same time! All the details can be found at: www.theFEST.us