From Father George's Desk 6/15/2025

I am writing this column with the expectation that by the time you read it, I will be a couple of time zones west of Latrobe.  I am taking a little vacation time this weekend exploring the High Plains of Western Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado. While I am away I will be in regular contact with both parish offices so they are able to get any necessary messages to me. Fr. Ted Kaczmarek, retired priest of our diocese, is covering for me at St. John this weekend.  Fr. John is handling daily Masses and funerals in my absence.  See you later this week.

As we transition into summertime, the peculiarities of the 2025 calendar present us with the      unusual occurrence of celebrating 6 solemnities, or major feast days, during the month of June. Last weekend we completed the celebration of the Easter Season with the great Solemnity of Pentecost. Now, the Church begins a long stretch of Ordinary Time-or Counted Time-until the end of November.  Each year we begin this stretch by celebrating two wonderful and ancient solemnities. The origins of today’s Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity can be traced back to the early centuries of the Church and it has been observed on the Church’s universal calendar for nearly 700 years. Today’s readings call us to contemplate the mysterious, intimate relationship of Father, Son, and Spirit: love so pure that three distinct persons constitute one God.  By virtue of the grace of baptism, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dwell in us and invite us to participate in their life and love. [2012 Sourcebook for Sundays, Seasons, and Weekdays, LTP, p. 233]

Next weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, which, like Trinity Sunday, is a doctrinal feast celebrating “the relationship between the Eucharistic banquet and the eschatological banquet in the Father’s kingdom” (General Instruction on the Roman Missal, 281).  This feast originated in the High Middle Ages at a time when very few people received communion regularly and reception of the cup had been withdrawn from the laity all together.  Originally celebrated as Corpus Christi, the feast was extended to the universal Church in 1246.  The reform of the liturgical calendar in the 1960s combined Corpus Christi with the      separate Feast of the Blood of Christ into the single solemnity we celebrate today.  This change is significant. The emphasis in today’s feast is not only on devotion to the Blessed Sacrament with Eucharistic processions or           adoration, but on the celebration and reception of the Eucharist at Mass (2010 Sourcebook, LTP, p. 208).  For those of us who attend Mass regularly, the celebration of the Eucharist can become so routine that we fail to appreciate the huge moment of grace we share.  Through the Words of Institution in the Eucharistic Prayer of the Mass, the simple elements of bread and wine become for us the Body and Blood of Christ; the Risen Christ is truly, fully, and miraculously present to and for us.

On June 24, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, this year the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus falls on June 27, and June 29 marks the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul.  I’ll have more about them in my next column.

Our civil calendar brings us to the celebration of Fathers’ Day this weekend.  First observed in Spokane, Washington in 1910, it has been observed in some places ever since.  However, it wasn’t until 1966 that President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation officially establishing Fathers’ Day on the third Sunday of June.  Sadly, many children grow up today with a poor model of fatherhood or without any kind of father figure in their lives at all!  All the more reason, then, for us to honor and celebrate the vocation of fatherhood.  God the Father loves, protects, and cares for us, His children.  Let us pray for all earthly fathers to do the same!  To all of our fathers, grandfathers, godfathers, and all other fatherly types, Happy Fathers’ Day!  May God bless and strengthen you today and always to be faithful to the marvelous vocation to which you have been called!

The active phase of the 2025 Diocesan Lenten Appeal has concluded and both parishes are doing very well!

· Holy Family has passed its parish goal!  Our total stands at $130,790 in pledges and gifts (this is 115% of our parish goal of $114,000)  Our parish share stands at $54,599 and grows with each gift since everything we collect for the remainder of this year’s appeal will be returned to the parish, assessment-free so that we can get to work on our parish project: addressing the two leaks in the stone work on the façade of the church.  We are reviewing bids for both projects right now; my hope is that we can begin to move on them within the next month.

· St. John is closing in on its parish goal!  Our total stands at $43,012 in pledges and gifts (this is 94% of our parish goal of $46,000). Our parish share stands at $8937 and grows with each gift since everything we collect for the   remainder of this appeal will be returned to the parish, assessment-free so that we can get to work on our parish project: the refurbishment the crucifix in the church.  I have been in contact with A.T. Merhaut Church Restoration & Supply; they should be out to the parish by the beginning of July to take our crucifix away for work to begin.

· Thanks to everyone who has already made a pledge or a gift to this year’s appeal.  Your generosity is greatly appreciated! If you have not yet made a pledge or gift, it’s not too late!  Please prayerfully consider a pledge or gift to this year’s DLA. You may return your pledge or gift by mail, in person during office hours, drop it in the collection basket, or online.