Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Welcome to the last weekend in July! It’s THAT time of the year again. People are still trying to squeeze in last minute vacations before school starts. It’s family reunion season. The State Fair is getting ready to start. And the NASCAR boys are coming to town! What a great time of the year for us Hoosiers! I hope and pray that you are enjoying it all.

I’d like to offer my sincere thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make this Friday night’s Tony Melendez concert such a great night for all of us. Thanks to Steve and Melissa Miller who were instrumental in making it happen, and to the dozens of volunteers who sold tickets, helped with promotion, provided hospitality and security, and worked together to make this concert happen. Thanks to each of you! Thanks also to everyone who bought tickets and came out for this remarkable event. I’m sure, that like me, it will be a concert that you will never forget. I thank God for Tony and his band and crew. They bring a wonderful message to many people.

The concert this past Friday night has really got me thinking. What kind of message are WE bringing to those around us? You know, the Gospel demands that each one of us get out in the world and preach the Good News of Jesus Christ. We don’t have to go to Africa. We don’t have to write a theology book. We don’t have to give homilies to every one that we know. We are to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ with our lives. St. Francis of Assisi once said “That we are to preach the Gospel with our whole lives at all times, and that some times, occasionally, we will even need words to do that.” St. Francis’s message was clear: Taking Jesus’ “Gospel” out into the world has a whole lot less to do with what we SAY, and a whole lot more to do with what we DO. What are you DOING to take Jesus out to others? Do you take the time to care about your co-workers? Do you take the time to listen to that neighbor that doesn’t have anybody to talk to? When’s the last time that you volunteered to help out our food pantry, or visited a nursing home, or made a phone call to someone who has lost a loved one in the last year? The possibilities are endless!

This weekend, we hear from our Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Apostolate, a special opportunity to get involved with Habitat for Humanity right here in Hamilton County. It is my sincere hope that many of you will consider helping out with this Fall’s building blitz, that Habitat for Humanity is enlisting our considerable manpower for. We have the unique opportunity to be involved in building several homes for those who most need them right here in our own area. Habitat for Humanity has turned many lives around with their effort across the country. What a great chance for us to get to share in their important work!

Of course, this weekend, being the last weekend of the month, we also take up our monthly second collection for the HELP committee and the Shepherd’s Gate Food Pantry. When those baskets come around a second time, please do not miss the chance to share what you have with those in need. Our monthly collection is a very vivid reminder to me that all of us can get into financial trouble. Another round of job reductions where we work, a major medical expense, a crisis in our family, or any number of other things, and even the safest of financial situations can turn around in the blink of an eye. Most all of us have been in situations before we’ve needed a little bit of help to make it through. Our monthly HELP collection enables all of us to share our blessings with those who are going through some tough times. We don’t all have to give lots of money. We SHOULD all be sharing something with our brothers and sisters in need. This too is a Gospel imperative. It is not an option for us as Christians. Read the Book. Jesus gave us a responsibility to each other.

Another awesome chance to share the Gospel is coming up with the beginning of our 2005-2006 RCIA class. The RCIA is the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. The Pre-Catechumenate begins on Monday evening, August 8 th at 7:00 PM in the Parish Narthex. Who could you invite to consider joining the Church this year? Who does God have waiting for you to ask? Come on! Get out there! Don’t be afraid to ask. The worst that can happen is that they will say ‘no’. But then you plant the seed for later on. Maybe, it’s even somebody that you live in the same house with! We need everybody in this Church!

In Christ,
Fr. Kevin

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst, for they are sticking to their diets.