KNEE REPORT #11
My knee told me the other day that it is getting bored with not carrying me over to church to see all of my St. Bernadette Parish Family and to hold me up as I would celebrate the Eucharist. So I had to remind my knee to be patient and that hopefully in a month I will have the surgery to make it functional again.
This week I see my orthopedic surgeon again so that he can take fluid from the knee to make sure that no infection has crept back in. Let’s pray together that those troublesome little bacteria do not find a way back again.
I continue to pray for all of you at least twice a day in the Morning Prayer and the Evening Prayer of the Divine Office, also know now as the Prayer for All Christians.
TODAY WORLD DAY FOR GRANDPARENTS!
Pope Francis has declared this weekend to be a .me for the Catholic Church to pray for grandparents and the elderly. This is a brand new designation and it is .med to be the weekend closest to July 26th, the annual Feast of Saints Joachim and Ann, the grandparents of Jesus and the parents of Mary. Talk about grandparents proud of a grandchild, Ann and Joachim must have been so proud to tell all their friends and neighbors about their extraordinary grandson named Jesus. I bet they had photos of him in their wallet or purse to show everyone (or maybe holy cards)! My first parish as a pastor was at the Shrine of St. Ann, the Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at Page and Whier, in North St. Louis, the next parish just north of Cathedral Parish. I loved it there and their annual Novena of St. Ann, July 18 26, with folks coming each of these days to beseech St. Ann to help them and their family. St. Ann (and the man behind this very good woman, St. Joachim) are good patrons for all grandparents to ask for blessings on your grandchildren and on you as grandparents. Statue from St. Ann’s Shrine St. Ann teaching Mary to read. Most all of us remember fondly our own grandparents and all they did for us. I know I was fortunate enough to have all four of my grandparents live into their mid 80’s, so I knew them for a long time. My city grandparents, Robert Lee and Agnes Dougherty, were exceptionally devoted Catholics, and Grandpa worked as the head of maintenance at their parish, St. John the Bap.st. My country grandparents, Henry and Teresa Reiker, lived on the Reiker farm in Franklin County all their lives and provided incredibly memorable experiences for me growing up. Mark your calendars! On Sunday, August 8th, after the 10:30 Mass, there will be an ice cream social to celebrate Sister Kathy’s 50th jubilee plus one of profession as a School Sister of Notre Dame. What better way to celebrate than with some ice cream? All are invited!
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
There is nothing ordinary about this Sunday’s readings as they are meant to help us connect with God, share and grow in His love. Elisha didn’t have to deal with the size of the crowd that followed Jesus. Yet, Elisha and Jesus both met the immediate needs of the people who hungered for more that just the food handed out to them. Elisha knew that in sharing, the one hundred Israelites would have leftovers because they were gratefully sharing with each other. In John’s Gospel, Jesus was looking for creativity from the future Apostles to help them learn to solve the needs of the five thousand locals who were hungry. The solution ultimately came in Jesus’ sharing the loaves and fish by encouraging the crowd to share amongst each other. Are we recognizing the hunger we truly have to be with God and to share that feeling with those around us in our community? Do we know that our faith in God must be shared through our communal meal of the Eucharist at Mass?
Written by Sister Kathy & Jim Flick