“I must first say that the contribution of the Church in today’s world is enormous. The pain and the shame we feel at the sins of some members of the Church, and at our own, must never make us forget how many Christians are giving their lives in love. They help so many people to be healed or to die in peace in makeshift hospitals. They are present to those enslaved by different addictions in the poorest places on earth. They devote themselves to the education of children and young people. They take care of the elderly who have been forgotten by everyone else. They look for ways to communicate values in hostile environments. They are dedicated in many other ways to showing an immense love for humanity inspired by the God who became man. I am grateful for the beautiful example given to me by so many Christians who joyfully sacrifice their lives and their time. This witness comforts and sustains me in my own e ort to overcome selfishness and to give more fully of myself.â€

Today’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew continues with the themes of sowing seed, weeds, various types of soil, and how these relate to us. We know that there are many fac- tors that shape our lives, and among them are our family of origin, our culture, our education, our peers and friends, and when we were born. We don’t grow up isolated. How we live each day, how we treat people, the values and attitudes that we show forth, and the place of God in our lives reject what has shaped our lives over the years. Today’s Gospel reminds us that there are also negative factors that we have to deal with throughout our lives. These can make us selfish and self-centered but hopefully, the positive influences in our lives have a stronger impact on us and help us be Christ-like. A good examination of conscience can often help us keep those negative forces under control and allow the good in us to shine forth.

I want to congratulate one of our parishioners, Ryan Nevins, on the publication of his children’s book, Shine Kids! This book for children of all ages has a very positive and encouraging approach for children to recognize their talents and abilities and to use them. The text says, “You’re the gift of God’s dream†and continues throughout the book to praise and be supportive of all children. The art work is magnificent and you can spend time looking at the boys and girls on each page which emphasizes the text. At the end of the book there is a list of Character Virtues. The book is available in the lobby of the Parish House. Congratulations, Ryan!

Fr. Andrew Reitz, O.F.M.

“We cannot ignore the fact that in cities human trafficking, the narcotics trade, the abuse and exploitation of minors, the abandonment of the elderly and infirm, and various forms of corruption and criminal activity take place. At the same time, what could be signifficant places of encounter and solidarity become places of isolation and mutual distrust. Houses and neighborhoods are more often built to isolate and protect than to connect and integrate.

The proclamation of the Gospel will be a basis for restoring the dignity of human life in these contexts, for Jesus desires to pour out an abundance of life upon our cities. The uniffied and complete sense of human life that the Gospel proposes is the best remedy for the ills of our cities, even though we have to realize that a uniform and rigid program of evangelization is not suited to this complex reality. But to live our human life to the fullest and to meet every challenge as a leaven of the Gospel witness in every culture and in every city will make us better Christians and bear fruit in our cities.â€

“A sower went out to sow…â€

Growing up in Allegany, New York, we had a large garden every year. By this time in July, seeds that had been sown in late May had sprouted and were maturing. Some had already yielded vegetables such as beans, lettuce, carrots;  flower seeds had grown and were blooming. What would stunt their growth was too much rain or not enough rain or weeds. Those weeds were always a problem and every day you had to do some weeding or it got out of control.

God’s life has been sown in us and it is meant to “produce abundantly.†We have to take care of this gift from God so that it will grow and enrich our lives, but there are those “weeds†which can stunt our growth: inattentiveness, business, prejudice, a bad attitude, lack of humility and more. Every day we have to be good gardeners and do a little “weeding†whether we want to or not.

You have probably noticed that Fr. Jeffrery Jordan is back with us for the summer. Fr. Jeffrery is continuing his studies at the Biblicum in Rome, Italy, and is here during these summer months. We are happy to have him here again. Watch for the course that he will be teaching in a few weeks.

Since work on the elevator in the church will not begin until sometime in September, we have moved the daily Masses, Monday through Friday, to the Lower Church. This helps us save energy and money by not air conditioning the Upper Church for these summer days. Doing this has saved us as much as $40,000.

-Fr. Andrew Reitz, O.F.M.

“In cities, as opposed to the countryside, the religious dimension of life is expressed by different lifestyles, daily rhythms linked to places and people. In their daily lives people must often struggle for survival and this struggle contains within it a profound understanding of life which often includes a deep religious sense. We must examine this more closely in order to enter into a dialogue like that of our Lord and the Samaritan woman at the well where she sought to quench her thirst.

New cultures are constantly being born in these vast new expanses where Christians are no longer the customary interpreters or generators of meaning. Instead, they themselves take from these cultures new languages, symbols, messages and paradigms which propose new approaches to life, approaches often in contrast with the Gospel of Jesus. A completely new culture has come to life and continues to grow in the cities. Today the changes taking place in these great spaces and…culture…are a privileged locus of the new evangelization.â€

Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel that he is “meek and humble of heart.” Yet just a few lines before this, he says that he is equal to his Father, the almighty God. So how can the Son of God be both meek and mighty?

For Jesus, being meek does not mean letting people push him around. If he were meek in that sense, he could not have thrown the moneychangers out of the temple. Jesus’ meekness meant doing the will of God completely. The challenge for us comes
in his words “learn from me.” We must learn to do God’s will as completely as Jesus did.

First, it means that we do all that God wants of us. We cannot pick and choose what we want to do and what we want to ignore. If some things seem too difficult or painful for us, we may need more faith in Jesus’ ability to make the burden easy. For example, sometimes we may hear Jesus’ command to love one another and reserve the right to love whom we choose. Or we may reserve the right to decide which teachings of the Church we will follow. But doing God’s will completely means doing it without reservation.

Second, we may try to do all that God asks, but give up if something becomes too difficult. We may say we forgive someone, for example, but when they reject that forgiveness, we become even angrier. Or we may tire of being patient with someone and be verbally hurtful. Or maybe we agree to help on a parish project but quit when someone disagrees with us. We can learn from Jesus how to do each part of God’s will to completion, as Jesus did all the way to the cross.

So how is the Son of God humble?

True humility means acknowledging who we are and what we can do. Jesus is simply being humble when he says that he is equal to the Father. So too, we are humble when we do not hide the fact that we are children of God and brothers and sisters of Jesus. Instead of a false modesty that claims “I’m not good enough to follow all of God’s commands,” it takes true humility to accept that we can do God’s will because the Spirit is with us to help us.

-Tom Schmidt