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June 21, 2019I hope to see many of you this Monday, June 24th, at 5:30 pm for a Parish Town Hall Meeting in Memorial Park before our monthly St. Michael Parish Night Out gathering. The Pastoral Council and I are considering several upgrades to our church building which we think will enhance the historical beauty of our little church. These upgrades include new flooring (and in the case of the sanctuary restoring the marble flooring), lighting, and security cameras. Conrad Schmitt Studios has also come up with a proposal that would by means of decorative painting give a background to the Crucifix and statues of Mary and Joseph which would add an even greater beauty and harmony to our worship space.
The fiscal year ends on Sunday, June 30th. Because of the good stewardship practiced by so many of our parishioners and the generous offerings of our visitors, we should meet the offertory goal that was projected in the annual budget. A stewardship ideal is that all parish expenses should be paid out of the offertory. If there is a costly parish project such as running a school or building a church, fundraising or a capital campaign might be necessary, but ideally fundraising should only be a last resort when needed. Therefore, the Finance Council believes that the proposed upgrades can be paid for out of parish savings without any fundraising. I am most grateful for your continued generosity to your faith community, especially during these summer months.
I am always happy to welcome the summer months even with the heat that comes with them. During these months our parish is blessed to welcome those of you who are visitors to Tybee and our little faith community. Your faith practice while on vacation is an inspiration. And I always want to encourage the faithful here on Tybee to check out www. masstimes.org when they travel off the island in search of cooler climes. When traveling to an unfamiliar place masstimes.org is an amazing web site that not only has the times of the Masses for each day in a particular area, it also has maps and directions to each church. It is a great travel resource.
And whenever you attend a church when traveling, please remember to bring back a bulletin for me. I love to receive vacation bulletins. Put a sticky note on it with your name and any “great practice” that caught your attention during your visit. I love to get a sense of the good things other parishes are doing.
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is also known as the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, which translates from Latin to "Body of Christ." The primary purpose of this feast is to focus our attention on the Eucharist. The opening prayer at Mass calls our attention to Jesus' suffering and death and our worship of Him, especially in the Eucharist. The other focus of this feast is upon the Body of Christ as it is present in the Church. The Church is called the Body of Christ because of the intimate communion which Jesus shares with his disciples. He expresses this in the gospels by using the metaphor of a body in which He is the head.
Sometimes I’m concerned that the “next generation” really doesn’t get the importance of the Body of Christ as Jesus being truly present in the Eucharist and leading us as head of the Church, but last weekend I attended Mass at St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte and rejoiced in the great number of young parents and their wonderfully lively children who were there. It gave me great hope for the future of the “Body of Christ” as does this story of a modern-day saint:
Vn. Carlo Acutis -- May 3, 1991- October 12, 2006
Declared Venerable July 5, 2018
Venerable Carlo Acutis was a Tec savvy teenager, known for his love for others and his devotion to the Eucharist. He used his talents to build a website to share information
about known Eucharistic miracles, and created videos sharing aspects of the Catholic faith with his internet audience. His faith extended beyond the internet as well, and he was known to befriend the poor, homeless, and migrant populations on the streets of his native city of Milan. In 2006, he died of leukemia at the age of 15. He was declared Venerable by Pope Francis in 2018. His cause for sainthood is ongoing.
Fr. Jerry Ragan
