Our Pastor’s Corner – Week of July 20, 2025

Dear Friends,

This weekend, we celebrate the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Our Lord makes a visit to the home of His dear friends Martha, Mary & Lazarus. The story is familiar to all of us. Martha is very busy with the duties of hospitality. We can imagine her running around cooking, cleaning and setting the table. In the midst of all these busy activities, Mary, her sister, sits quietly at the feet of Jesus simply listening to Him. Martha is upset that Mary is not helping her. When Jesus sees Martha very frantic about the household duties, he says those famous words, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken from her.” This passage reveals to us that Mary, at that moment, chose something better, something that we should all desire in life, which might be called the “better part”. She chose when the Lord came to her house to sit at the feet of Jesus and simply be with Him and listen to Him. It is true that, while Martha was certainly doing a lovely service by preparing the delicious meal and working hard to keep the house in order, Mary chose rather to focus in on one thing, and that was simply her Lord. Jesus after all, was on His way to Jerusalem. Maybe Mary sensed that He needed someone to listen to Him and support Him. The “better part” then would have been sensing the true needs of a guest.

It’s important to acknowledge the fact that we will all have times in life when we must be more like Martha. Work must be accomplished, chores completed, and various forms of labor will be a normal part of daily life. But we must also daily remind ourselves that there is one thing we must never lose sight of: Being with Jesus, in silence and prayerful adoration is the most important thing we can do. This doesn’t undermine any other important tasks we have to complete each day, but it does reveal to us very clearly that we should never neglect that which is most important. By identifying Mary’s choice to sit at His feet, Jesus reminds us all of the importance of simply “being with Him”. This is the call to the contemplative life given not only to cloistered monks and nuns but is an invitation to us – all of God’s people. We must all seek out moments of rest with Jesus throughout our busy days in life. Perhaps we can reflect, this weekend, upon the beautiful image of Mary sitting quietly at the feet of Jesus and listening to Him. Use this image as an invitation to do the same today. Have you prayed yet today? Have you sat silently with our Lord? Have you tried to enter into a deep adoration of Him through prayer and meditation? Choose the “better part” this day and you will find that everything else will fall into place in your daily life.

We continue to highlight our Festival Thermometer with the hope that we can reach our goal this year which has been set at $7,500. As of this writing, we have raised a total of $ 4,297 – we still have a ways to go! As you know, this annual fundraiser helps to cover the many expenses associated with the day of our festival: namely, catering, the rental of tents, entertainment, etc. As is customary, any monies left over will be used to benefit the upkeep and ongoing operations of our parish. I thank all those who have donated thus far and for all those who have visited our website to sponsor the festival in other ways and/or as a volunteer. I ask you to please mark your calendars for a great day of food and fun and please invite a friend!

Again, the Festival Mass will take place on August 10th at 1:30 PM. Afterwards, the Festival will run from 3 PM until 7 PM with food, live music, and fun & games. Leading up to that day, we will have our Triduum of Prayer on August 6th, 7th & 8th. These evenings will begin at 7 PM with a Holy Hour and afterwards there will be food and entertainment. We are happy to announce that our guest speaker for these prayerful days leading up to the feast will be Father Randall (Randy) Kraft.  Fr. Kraft is a very young and gifted homilist just ordained two years ago. Currently, he serves as Parochial Vicar at St. Agnes Church in West Chester, PA. Please consider joining us for these special days of prayer & fellowship.

I take this opportunity to thank you again for your continued support for our parish. The many sacrifices that you make of your time, talent and treasure are greatly appreciated and never go unnoticed. Be assured of my prayers for all of you and your families. I hope that you are enjoying these days of summer.

Love and prayers, Father Carey