The Lord is king indeed! He wants to build His kingdom here on earth. He wants to lead you to THE eternal kingdom—heaven. Walking this walk takes faith, hope and love in the Lord. So I ask, is the Lord king of your life? Does Jesus take precedence over everything you do or does He fit in when it is convenient? It is good to honestly ask this question every once in a while. Jesus is our king. Prayer is hard and it takes time to put faith into practice…but it is the most important reality in our life. I don’t say this merely because I am a priest, but because it is the truth. I am not here to condemn you but to encourage you. Be encouraged.

Jesus took His disciples up the mountain to be transfigured before them and to let the Father speak to them. He not only wanted to reveal who He was and is for them, but who they could become if they just continue to walk with Him. If you have walked away from the Lord, come back to Him. Now is the time.

In light of this, I want to speak about our Parish School of Religion. Last year, the diocese invited all PSR leaders and pastors to meet about our current state of PSR programming. At the meeting, they invited us to pray and think outside the box in terms of what we offered the parish. It seems that there has been a downward trend in PSR attendance throughout the diocese over the years, especially after COVID. Therefore, we have been praying and discerning what to do and offer for our families to help them grow in the faith. Knowing that many families have a difficult time with weekly attendance, the decision has been made to schedule only two in-person classes per month, which will be extended by a half hour, 6:30 - 8:00pm.  An additional family and school connection activity will be given for the families to complete on the ‘off week’.  These activities will correlate with the Liturgical Calendar and could be used for supplemental classroom work. We know that the parents are the primary formators of their children in the faith. We hope that this will help facilitate that reality. So if you have fallen away from PSR over the last few years, I pray that you will join in again and let Jesus lead you to His kingdom! Lastly, I want to thank Kathy Ott for the many years she has led PSR. I also want to thank Ann Mayer and Linda Reese as they have agreed to lead as PSR Co-coordinators. Pray that Jesus will truly lead the way!

Be encouraged,
Fr. Jeremy 

P.S. Speaking of families, don’t forget the opportunity to come to Mass at the Rubber Ducks Stadium at noon on Sunday, August 20 with a game to follow.