In case you hadn’t noticed the 90-degree weather and 90 percent humidity, it’s summertime! And in addition to warmer weather, that means for many of us some vacation time. So let’s take some time to reflect on what vacation means for us as Catholic Christians.

The office of liturgy and music for St. Raphael is in need of one or more volunteers to assist with weekly administrative tasks and desktop publishing.

Join the RCIA Team as they present and discuss Bishop Robert Barron’s CATHOLICISM: The Pivotal Players video series July 14-August 18. The series showcases a handful of saints, artists, mystics, and scholars who not only shaped the life of the Church but changed the course of western civilization.

The parish center meeting rooms will be closed for the month of July to do some much needed sprucing up!

Greetings as summer starts! “They’re off!” Announcers at horse races say those words with unbridled enthusiasm; those of us who are parents proclaim them with relief (hooray for lighter schedules and less racing around) and dread (cries of “I’m bored!” and a new level of clutter will surround us). While our children, not to mention our teachers, need a significant break from their academic endeavors, there is no reason to think that somehow because our formal religious education programs are complete for the school year that our children’s catechesis is on hold.

In a chapel on the outskirts of the Japanese city of Hiroshima in August of 1945, a Jesuit priest originally from Spain celebrated Mass. Spread out before him were wounded bodies: over one hundred people wounded and burned in the explosion of the atomic bomb days before.

The Prayer over the Offerings for today’s solemnity is: “Sanctify by the invocation of your name, we pray, O Lord, our God, this oblation of our service, and by it make of us an eternal offering to you.” The unused 1998 translation rendered it in this more intelligible way: “Lord our God, sanctify the gifts of your servants as we call upon your holy name and by their power make us an everlasting gift to you.”

Pope Francis writes: The mystery of the Trinity also speaks to us of ourselves, of our relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In fact, through baptism, the Holy Spirit has placed us in the heart and the very life of God, who is a communion of love.

"Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father." When St. Paul wrote these words to Christians in the Church of Ephesus, the word he uses for “be filled” means literally, “Go on being filled” with the Holy Spirit.

I have two words for you: New. Life. That’s what you and I are offered this Easter. New life.

The Second Vatican Council said in 1965 that, “God gives priests a special grace to be ministers of Christ among the people. They perform the sacred duty of preaching the Gospel, so that the offering of the people can be made acceptable and sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” Unfortunately because of the abuse perpetrated by many priests (although a small percentage of all priests), the failures of the leadership of the church to protect the vulnerable, and the culture of silence and cover-up, the perception and credibility of the priesthood has been greatly diminished over the last several decades.

Having been informed recently that there is a fine, growing interest in all things Ignatian here in the parish, I am excited about learning how to deepen my own Spirituality and knowledge this summer.

All are welcome, children, teens, and adults. We meet in the Lewis room after the 5:30 pm Vigil Mass to recite the Holy Rosary, meditate on the life of Christ and share in a voluntary potluck dinner as a family with other families. Our next gathering will be on June 15, 2019.