Happy Father’s Day
We welcome one of the great fathers of the Archdiocese of Chicago to Holy Family this weekend. Father Jack Wall, the President of the Catholic Extension Society, will join us for our 9:00 and 11:00 am Masses this weekend. We will present Jack with a check for just over $113,000 dollars that YOU have so generously given to support many spiritual and social service initiatives in the two dioceses that constitute the entire state of Montana—Helena and Great Falls-Billings.
Jack was one of my predecessors in the Vocation Office for the Archdiocese of Chicago, guiding many to priesthood, religious life and lay ministry in our Church. He was the pastor of Old St. Patrick’s Church in Chicago for 24 years. Jack is my biggest priest mentor and we have been friends since 1970. On this Father’s Day, I thank Jack for his fatherly role in my life and countless others.
We here at Holy Family have collaborated with Catholic Extension on six Lenten Social Justice projects over the past several years. Each year we visit communities that Catholic Extension introduces us to. We are then able to tell you a story, using the unique gift of our screens and other digital media to convey a need to address several of the tenets of Catholic Social Teaching.
Catholic Extension has been matching generous personal donors with some of the poorest communities in the United States and Cuba for over 100 years. That partnership has enabled some of the most dedicated Catholic nuns, priests and lay people to serve the spiritual and temporal needs of the poorest of the poor in America. We here at Holy Family were the first parish to enter into a partnership with Fr. Wall and his staff, and because of your generosity we have carried out the best of Catholic Social Teaching while meeting some of the richest people of faith amidst some of the poorest conditions.
Perhaps you remember when Becky Pugh visited us during Lent and shared so many needs of parishes and faith communities on several Native American reservations as well as in the city of Billings. On behalf of the people of those communities, THANK YOU.
Because of your generosity this Lent, nuns on some of those staffs are getting further education, women and families at risk are finding safety and support, young people are learning about our faith and being empowered to pursue dreams beyond the grip of poverty, priests are able to provide greater sacramental prayer experiences.
This Father’s Day helps us to reflect on the providing, protecting and empowering role of many fathers. Your generosity has played a similar role for these Montana communities. Thank You, Holy Family.
Fathers Roles
The scriptures for Mass this weekend give us several images of fatherhood. Some fathers are like the “majestic” cedar tree described in our first reading from the prophet Ezekiel. It is a fruitful tree where birds find shelter and all winged things find shade. Some fathers scatter seeds in the world, seeds of example and knowledge and they do not know or realize how those seeds come to fruition. Some fathers then work very hard to harvest the fruit of those seeds in providing, protecting and guiding families. Some fathers plant very small seeds of encouragement, kindness, support and hope that become huge influences on the life of others, especially their children.
Some fathers struggle with their role and may not appear to bear much fruit, but let us all remember that last image. Father or not, we never know when some small thing that we do can affect or inspire another. Remember the possibilities of even the smallest seed that comes from the gift of life that God has given to each and every one of us.
Spirit Camp Thanks
I want to thank all of our volunteers, teens and parents, our Family and Teen Faith staff, our Director Suzie Malloy, Maureen Cochran and especially Karen McHale for making this year’s underwater SCUBA adventure of Spirit Camp such a great success. Thanks to our maintenance team, especially Ray Lacek, for creating such a clever environment in our narthex and beyond that captivated our young parishioners this past week. Congratulations to all.