WEEKLY RECTOR’S MESSAGE – July 12th – Fr. Thomas
Anyone driving around Wellington and “environs” in recent months will have noticed an increase in construction work sites; road widening, underground pipe installations, tree trimming, concrete light posts replacing wooden ones, and the customary pre-hurricane season preparations. The “sermon” here is that change may not always be as apparent, but life as we know it never remains the same. Yet, the Good News as St. Paul wrote to the Philippians (4:13) is that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” The end of the road may not be “in sight,” but as long as we keep our eyes firmly fixed on the goal of everlasting life, we’ll be on the right track. Because if you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere anyway.
The road to success is not straight. There is a curve called Failure, a loop called Confusion, speed bumps called Friends, red lights called Enemies, caution lights called Family. You will have flats called Jobs. But, if you have a spare called Determination, an engine called Perseverance, insurance called Faith, a driver called Jesus, you will make it to a place called Success.
So, accept your path, with its twists and turns. The adventure is in the journey, not the arriving, because God promises a safe landing, not necessarily a smooth passage.
NOTICES:
Video Viewing Options – there are four different ways to view our videos and receive our newsletters: 1) an email link within a newsletter; 2) our church website listed below; 3) our YouTube channel; 4) Facebook snippets. See the links below.
Opportunities for Giving – there are several options that safely and efficiently expedite your generous donations: electronic bank transfers or automatic bank transfers via personal accounts or credit/debit cards; personal checks delivered by USPS; and our favorite through joining our giving family online through our website or at www.myEoffering.com with our secure vendor Church Envelope Budget Company, who provides you with yearly offering envelopes. Please do NOT leave any envelopes with checks/cash unattended at church mailboxes.
2021 Offering Packets – I will be sending my file for 2021 yearly offering packets for printing. If you have any address changes, or if you NO longer use envelopes and send your contributions via MyEoffering.com, keeping costs down, please let me know so that I can remove your name from the
The Diocese of Southeast Florida – has extended the ban on Church-wide in-person services, events and meetings and other activity until further notice, until at least July 31st. Live-streaming and recording of worship will continue, but no other in-person activity is permitted. We will move into Season 2 only when we are clear that it is safe to do so.
Cyber-Security Threats – are real and can happen to any of us. Knowing that most of you did receive last week’s newsletter but not the Sunday mass video, please look in your junk/spam/trash folders, mark our emails as ‘not junk’ and re-type the church’s email address back into your contacts. Hopefully, none of you replied to the hacker’s scam to purchase gift cards or send money to an unknown party; be sure to delete that scam email out of your inbox, trash, and delete files. Make sure our original email address is the only one you have. If in doubt, call the parish office.
Flowers for the Altar – Thank you to our donor for their contributions from March through June. If you wish to designate someone to be honored August and September, or in any month, please contact the parish office. July designees are:
- Birthdays of Michel & Theresa Guillaume, by Michel Guillaume
- Wedding Anniversary of Michel & Theresa Guillaume, by Michel Guillaume
- In loving Memory of Robert Gardinier, by Jan Swearingen & Henriette Gardinier
- Wedding Anniversary of Mike & Sue Riddle, by the Riddles
Village of Wellington – the food distribution in Wellington is at the Wellington Mall by Nordstrom’s at 8:30-10:30 a.m. on TUESDAYS. You will be given a voucher when you are in line. Let the person know if you are getting food for more than one family. View the link to learn more information…https://www.wellingtonfl.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=164
Sandwiches for St. George’s Outreach Project Extended through July – Please continue to prepare sandwiches for St. George’s and bring them to St. David’s parking lot each Wednesday morning from 8:30 to 9:30 am. Thank you for your continued support!
Please Pray – For the sick: Annabella, Ed, Zoe. Jacob, Rita, Sarah, William, Richard, Carole, Sandy, Kim, Joe, Steve, Bob, Linda, Francine, Donna, Ashlyn. For birthday celebrations: Kenneth Barnett, Lauren Melton, Lucas Joseph, Joyce parker, Marc Duquesnay, Estelle Beresford, Danielle Kiminyo, Laurel Tarr, For our expectant mother: Andrea. For the faithful departed; Alicia Blodgett.
https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp10_RCL.html
Last week in the sermon, I spoke about the REAL Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. I’m reminded of a story about St. Jean Vianney, the humble 19th c. Roman Catholic priest from Ars, France, who used to spend a great deal of time in the church, staring at the tabernacle above the altar (the receptacle which houses the Blessed Sacrament). Someone once entered the church and asked him, “What are you doing?” To which the saintly priest replied, “I look at Him, and He looks at me.” That just about says it all! When we’re in the presence of someone we love the time is well spent. So, it is with God our heavenly Father, whether in church at mass, or in the seclusion of our own homes. On this Father’s Day Weekend, let us give thanks for our fathers, living and departed, and pray for all parents.
Village of Wellington – the food distribution in Wellington is at the Wellington Mall by Nordstrom at 8:30-10:30 a.m. on TUESDAYS. You will be given a voucher when you are in line. Let the person know if you are getting food for more than one family.
As if the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t enough in our nation and world, and the official beginning of hurricane season; now we’re faced with rising tensions, anger, and violence as a result of the arrest and murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The racial tension that still exists in different places and in various forms hasn’t and will not go away anytime soon. It’s easy for many of us to simply think, “Oh, we’re all alike; black, white, Hispanic, Arab, Oriental; so in the words of Rodney King, “Can’t we all just ‘get along?” Well, we know that it’s not that simple; especially for those who have experienced racial discrimination in past, or even in present years. When one hears the stories of racial prejudice one can sympathize and begin to comprehend the anger and suspicion which still exists among different races and groups of people. However, we know too, that one cannot live in fear, nor live in the past either.
The message of Pentecost last week is that “We’re all in this together,” Red and Yellow, Black and White, they are precious in His sight,” as the old children’s song goes. But not everyone “gets it.” Why not? Maybe we have a lot of work still to do as Christians. Several people have asked me already in recent days if we’re living in the “End Times.” My response, from an historical point of view, is probably not, but we’re called upon to live each day as if it were our first, last, and only day. Some Pentecostal preachers were warning us that the new millennium was the beginning of the apocalypse. Well, here we are twenty years later, and what has changed?
So, we think we cannot change our world or ourselves; and we use that as a good excuse to simply live with the problems. Not to make light of the tragedies which afflict us throughout the years: wars, natural disasters, political upheavals, and plagues; but, we still have a lot of work to do to “colonize” our present existence before we move on to a higher one. And, the Good News is that we’re not in this by ourselves. The problem, however, is that we’ve become too comfortable with our divisions. We think the problems of the world are too big for us. Well, by ourselves, yes, they probably are. No part of the body is indispensable. We are all interrelated like a tag team. So, I leave you with a favorite African proverb – “If you want to travel fast, walk alone, if you want to travel far, walk together.”
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you and I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road although I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death, I will not fear, for you are ever with me and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. (Thomas Merton, “Thoughts of Solitude”)
Village of Wellington –the food distribution in Wellington is at the Wellington mall by Nordstrom. The time was changed to 8:30-10:30 a.m. You will be given a voucher when you are in line. Let the person know if you are getting food for more than one family. 
