As you read this article, I will be away for the coming week, taking some vacation time with my parents and siblings. Be back next Saturday in time for church! We’ve been doing this since our college years, setting aside a week of quality family time together each summer—typically somewhere in Michigan near one of the Great Lakes. Along the way, spouses and grandchildren have come into and grown up with this tradition. It’s always a low-key, high-relax week, and I look forward to it every year. This year we’re stretching our wings and caravanning our way down to Hocking Hills, OH.
The Lenz fam has a deep appreciation for nature and the glory of creation, so you can usually find us wherever there are Jeep trails, hiking trails, forests and mountains, water access, and all manner of outdoor activities. I’ve never been to Hocking Hills, but the internet is full of beautiful photos—so the hopes are high for some stellar views worth exploring and some extra sleep worth catching.
This past week I met with Katelyn Whitty, who will be helping me in the coming months (together with two small parish teams) in the administration of our upcoming Stewardship for Saints and Scholars Campaign, both at St. Robert and Good Shepherd. Katelyn works with an organization called the Steier Group, which has been guiding all of our diocesan parishes through this capital campaign. I remember writing a few months back that I would have another bulletin update about this topic before the end of June—and that kind of blew by me. Sorry about that.
But there has indeed been plenty of good discussion at our finance council and pastoral council meetings, and as Katelyn helps us clarify our goals and iron out details, I will be able to share more in the coming weeks about this diocesan-wide effort in support of Catholic education.
This weekend’s gospel story is a gold mine for the spiritual life. In all things—whether at work, in ministry, in family life, in our event planning, on vacation, in fellowship, when serving others or receiving their service—God connects eternal life to our steadfast love of Him and merciful love of our neighbor. Love that encompasses even strangers and enemies. My brothers and sisters, these commandments, when obeyed, heal the world. In Christ, they shape our view of humanity and set us apart from the nations. Christian love is radical, it’s beautiful, it’s messy, it’s sacrificial. There will never be a day absent of opportunities to love God and neighbor. May we meet and rise to them wherever we are this week—and fill our souls with eternal life.
Fr. Brian