Happy Nineteenth Sunday! This past Monday, I had my first follow-up appointment with the doctor to assess how my fingers are healing. They took x-rays and examined the areas of skin where the stitches were removed. So far, everything seems to be progressing as expected. I have a follow-up appointment in four more weeks for another set of x-rays.  I’m grateful for the prayers offered by so many of you.

This past week, on August 4th, we celebrated the feast day of St. John Vianney, who is the patron saint of parish priests.  Woohoo! The vocation of the priesthood is given to us by God for the shepherding of His holy Church, and thus, naturally, I’ve been reflecting a lot on my own life. Whenever I do this, I always reach the same conclusion, which is that it’s all a marvelous mystery to me. I love the commentary of St. John Vianney, who said that “the priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.” So we pray for all priests, and for those among our sons whose vocation is to the priesthood. May they love God’s holy Church with the heart of Jesus!

As a reminder, this coming Saturday is August 15th, the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary. Ordinarily, it is a holy day of obligation. But since the 15th falls on a Saturday this year, the obligation to attend the Mass of the Assumption is waived. Your Sunday obligation remains intact, which, per usual, you may honor at the Saturday evening or Sunday morning Masses.

From Fr. Brian