From the Desk of the Pastor
June 18, 2023
This Sunday, June 18, we honor all Fathers. It is fitting above all to thank, glorify and praise the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Son revealed to us his Father as Our Father also. We have been subsumed into God’s family by being intimately connected to the Father through the Son in the communion of the Holy Spirit. If that is not wonderful, I do not know what else is!
We can now relate to the Divine Godhead as someone as close as our fathers making us all sons and daughters of the Father and brothers and sisters of the Son. And by virtue of our baptism we become friends to one another through the life-giving Spirit.
The head of the Holy Family is another model father, Joseph of Nazareth, the just man, the wise and loyal servant, who “cherished Mary, the virgin Mother of God and with fatherly care watched over Jesus Christ”. His integrity of character and moral uprightness were virtues that were not lost on his foster Son, who possessed that to the most superlative degree.
We honor our individual fathers who not only cooperated with God in giving us life along with our mothers, but also nurtured us by providing for our needs, giving moral compass to us during our formative years and modeling for us a way of living according to the precepts of our faith and our moral tradition.
We likewise honor all those who have made us feel the love of a father, be they grandfather, foster father, godfather, uncle, older brother, or even single mother.
We give thanks to God for these men, living and deceased. May those who are still with us, receive the gratitude, respect and adulation of their progenies. May those who have gone ahead of us experience everlasting bliss in the Father’s house.
We salute them and honor them for the blessing they have been to us.
Happy Fathers’ Day!
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Parish Fiesta
This coming weekend, we will celebrate the Solemnity of the birth of our patron, Saint John the Baptist.
We begin with a Triduum starting on June 21 – 23 at 7 p.m. This will be followed by distribution of bagged snacks.
On June 24, the day of the solemnity, we will have Masses at 7 am and 5 p.m. Following the 5 p.m. Mass, there will be a procession of the Statue of St. John from the church to the parish hall. This is followed by the fiesta dinner organized by the Parish Pastoral Council and the Parish Groups Leaders.
On Sunday, June 25, there will be a mini-Festival at the Main Street parking lot and a Ministry Fair at the Hall where different parish organizations and ministries will introduce their mission and invite parishioners to join them. There is a raffle at the end of the festival with prizes at $600, $400 and $200. Raffle tickets are sold at $5.00 a piece.
Please join us in these celebrations and help our Parish come alive again.
May God continue to bless you and keep you safe.
Yours in Christ,
Msgr. Willie S. Manrique
