We wish a fond farewell to our seminarian, Mason Bailey, this weekend. It has been a total joy to have Mason in the parish this summer. His dedication, his eagerness to be involved in ministry, and his sense of humor have gifts to the parish. For those who took part in Bibles and Burgers, we found that he already has better gifts in public speaking than most priests we know, including your pastor. He will return to St. Meinrad Seminary for three more years of study. Next summer he will be sent to Guatemala. We hope that he will come home with good public speaking skills in Spanish.
As you know, our parish has been generous in sharing our parish tithe with parishes that are struggling. We received a thank-you note this week from parishioners at Our Lady of Hungary in South Bend, “We want to express our deepest gratitude for the gift of money given to Our Lady of Hungary Parish. The air conditioning is up and running! We no longer need to use the church prayer booklet as a fan! God bless you and your parish.” A nice note to receive in the heat of the summer.
My week at Damascus Summer Camp was an eye-opener. I have never seen so much energy channeled in such good ways. 180 middle-schoolers and 80 “Damascus missionaries,” mostly college students, were singing, dancing, doing activities, praying, and talking about their faith for six days. It was inspiring. I was old enough to be the grandpa of everyone there. I did keep up with them, though, on the paintball course and zipline.
Seventeen more days before school starts!
