Our Pastor’s Corner – Week of June 1, 2025

Dear Friends,

This week, we celebrate the Seventh Sunday of Easter and in this weekend’s gospel we hear a very beautiful and intimate prayer from Jesus which He prays in the presence of His disciples on the eve of His passion and death. Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “Holy Father, I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one…”

This is truly an amazing prayer and we shouldn’t miss the meaning of it. This is Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer that He prayed just before He was arrested. This prayer concludes the Last Supper at which Jesus instituted the Most Holy Eucharist. It is truly His “Eucharistic” prayer that culminates in the offering of His life on the Cross. This prayer is not only a prayer; it is also a teaching about the life that we are invited to share in with our Lord. Note in His words that Jesus prayed not only for the disciples, “but also for those who will believe in me through their word.” In other words, Jesus was praying for you and I and for everyone who would hear and respond to the Gospel throughout the ages. And His prayer was that you and I share in the perfect union that Jesus shares with the Father. He prayed that all may be one in the same way that He and the Father are one. We are asked this weekend to prayerfully reflect upon Jesus’ prayer to the Father and to know that He was praying this for us too. May we join with Him in this prayer and make it our own so that our every human desire will begin to be fulfilled in God.

Next Sunday we will celebrate the beautiful liturgical feast of Pentecost Sunday which concludes the joyful season of Easter. The Apostles once fearful, are now empowered with the gifts of the Spirit to go forth and boldly proclaim the Good News. It marks the beginning of the Church’s mission to the world and is often referred to as the “birthday” of the Church. To mark this great feast, we will have our Annual Pancake Breakfast sponsored by our own Knights of Columbus. All are invited to Assumption Hall after our Sunday morning Masses for a delicious breakfast prepared by our Knights. There is no charge for this breakfast, but as is customary a free-will offering will be kindly accepted and all proceeds will benefit our parish. A big thank you goes out to our Knights for providing this wonderful event that brings us together as a parish family on such a great feast in which we celebrate our unity as diverse members of the Body of Christ.

Our music ministry under the direction of Mrs. Anne Sprissler, is looking for new members to join our OLA Adult Choir. Our choir provides music for us at the 10:00 am Mass as well as special liturgical occasions throughout the year. All of you who have had the opportunity to hear them know what a tremendous job they do. Singing in the choir is about a lot more than just making music! It’s also very much a part of being a community. It’s about coming together with people who share the same passion and love for music and thus creating something beautiful together. It provides an opportunity to serve our community and draw oneself and others closer to God through worship. Many people have some fear making this commitment, but this should never hold one back from coming and experiencing the joy and fulfillment that comes from making music as a group of dedicated choir members. We are offering you an opportunity to “come and see” for yourself on our coming feast day in August. Won’t you consider joining us to sing at the Feast of the Assumption Mass on Sunday, August 10th 2025 at 1:30 pm in the afternoon. For more information you may contact Anne Sprissler directly at asprissler@olastrafford.org or stop by the choir loft and speak to the organist. Thank you for prayerfully considering this request!

As a reminder, we are still accepting donations towards our annual Baby Bottle Drive for Mother’s Home in Darby, PA. We will collect all donations through (Father’s Day) June 15th weekend. We thank you for considering participating in this drive and for helping mothers and children who are in need.

I thank you again for your continued prayerful and financial support of our parish. May God bless you and your families!

Love and prayers, Father Carey