June 19, 2021
Click here to view this week's Mass. The video for the 4 PM vigil Mass will be available by about 7 PM on Saturday.
When I was in eighth grade, the thought of a having a paper route scared me. A paper route meant interrupting whatever I was doing in the early afternoon each day to sort and deliver the papers. But that was not the worst part. It also meant that at the end of the week, I would have to go to each house and talk to the customer and collect payment for the papers. That terrified me!
When I first learned that I had a paper route I began to worry. I paced the floor. I was concerned and frightened. Then I started delivering papers. To my surprise, it was not that bad. Even the dreaded encounters with customers became happy encounters as some offered a cold beverage or some candy.
I soon realized that the paper route was not anything to worry about. As a matter of fact, it was really adding something good to my life! And, as it turned out, this was only the beginning. One day I stopped to talk to a young girl along the route. We talked again and then regularly. Her name was Kay. I was only fifteen years old, but I knew right away there was something special about her. Five years later we were married! We will be married forty-five years in September of this year. And all the result of a paper route that had caused me to worry.
During all of these wonderful years I have had the ever-present reminder, each time that I begin to worry about anything, to let go just a little bit, and trust that God will make all well. That is the message of this weekend's Gospel. The waters are rough, and the apostles are worried. Jesus calms the sea and then says, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?"
What is it that terrifies you? Are you ready to let go just a little bit and have faith in God? Since eighth grade when I received my paper route, and Kay, I have learned to worry a whole lot less about a whole lot more things. God does calm the storms in our lives. And our worries - well they don't accomplish anything good at all.
Happy Father's Day to all of our dads and to those who have been like dads to others around them! During this Year of St. Joseph, we are particularly mindful of the importance of the example of St. Joseph and the inspiration he is to all dads. All the years he spent protecting Jesus and Mary from those who wanted Jesus dead had to be challenging and difficult. It was through Joseph's dependence on the grace of God that he was able to provide for and keep Jesus safe. May we all turn often to St. Joseph in prayer to intercede for us with God our Father in heaven!
God's Peace,
Deacon Dave