Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

All of us around here are still basking in the joy of the last week. Despite the threat of rain and moving the 2004 Italian Festival indoors, last weekend’s event was still the most successful celebration to date. It was still a great evening with everybody helping out to make it work. Then this past week we held our annual Vacation Bible Camp. It was so awesome to see our youngsters having fun learning the stories of the Bible, especially this year about the building up of God’s Kingdom. It was more than an appropriate topic for our children who are witnessing each time they come to our property, the literal building up of the Kingdom of God right in front of our eyes. It has been a great week! We give thanks and praise to God for all of the good that He is doing with all of us!

This week, my special thanks go to Kathy Pelletier and her enormous army of talented and creative individuals who put on this year’s Vacation Bible Camp. The amount of work done is staggering. And yet the joy on those kids’ faces when they saw all the decorations, when they listened to the stories, and when they took part in all the activities was enormous. Special thanks to each and every one of you that made this amazing week happen. Perhaps if more of us had gone to something like this when we were growing up, there would be less fear of the Bible and a greater comfort in studying it.

The Sacred Scriptures are our primary source and guide for the Christian life. We must never forget that. All of us should be reading some Scripture every day. Are we? When’s the last time that you opened up your Bible at home? Or in the car? Or even at work or school? The Bible gives us the word of God. I can’t tell you how many times I have people tell me that they pray and pray, and God never talks back to them. The first question I ask them is “Are you reading the Bible?” And that’s because it is still God’s primary way of speaking to us. The Bible has changed lives. It has gotten believers through some of the most difficult times in their lives, because the Bible offers hope, and direction, and consolation. And sometimes we all need a little of each of those things.

Some among us have just completed Deacon Weldon’s summer series on the Gospel of St. John. Others took part in last spring’s adult Bible study on Wednesday nights or Thursday mornings. Still others enjoyed Tracy and Andy Miller’s Sunday morning Bible Study on the readings for the day. On-going Bible reading and meditation continues to be at the heart of our Christ Renews His Parish process. And our young people are learning the Bible in our Catholic school, in P.R.E., and in our Jr. High youth group, H.O.P.E., and our high school youth group, T.R.U.T.H. We are blessed with many opportunities here at St. Maria Goretti to grow in our knowledge of Sacred Scriptures. But the best programs in the world can be offered, and if we fail to take part in them, what good does it do? And the Bible is not meant to be read only when we’re in a class, we should be reading it every day. We need to make the Bible more and more a part of our life. We don’t have to beat anybody over the head with it, as some Christians appear to do. That never works. But it is just as wrong to deprive ourselves of it because some people misuse it.

Check out the Bible this week. There’s a reason why it is the best-selling book of all time. There are awesome stories in there! There are war stories. There are history stories. There are romances. There are action/adventure stories. There are stories of great Faith. And there are stories of the great tragedy of sin. There are stories of great love and lust. (Check out the Song of Songs if you think the Bible is boring!) And there is the whole story of Salvation history, of our relationship with a very real God. It is an amazing book. Hopefully, you will get yours out this week and read some more of it. And here’s a hint also: Don’t try to read the whole thing all at once. It’s not like Gone With the Wind. It doesn’t work very well that way and you can miss a lot of what God is trying to tell you.

Hey, mark your calendars now for a special healing Communion service that is going to take place on Monday, August 2 nd. This is for parents who have lost infant children in whatever way. Many carry around this burden for a long time. This new service, which was developed in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, seeks to bring peace and consolation to all those who have lost babies at any point and in whatever way. If this would be helpful to you, please come and join us on August 2 nd.

That’s about all for now. Have a great week!

In Christ,
Fr. Kevin

The trouble with making mental notes is that
the ink fades so fast.