Pastor’s Corner — June 16th, 2024
Fr. Joshua Fons, A New Name and A Clarification
Fr. Joshua Fons is now a priest! Before he begins his assignment here, I think it’s important to offer a clarification regarding his name. When he was here as a deacon, many people called him Deacon “Josh”. But he in fact prefers people to call him by his full name Joshua. I asked him this after his priest ordination and he does prefer people use his full first name. So rather than have him insist on this, I’m doing it for him. I know it might be a challenge, but please refer to him as Father Joshua when he gets here in July, not Father Josh. Also his email address has already been changed to frjoshua@stpatchurch.org.
Fr Riley O’ Shea Mass of Thanksgiving This Weekend (5pm Saturday)
This weekend Fr. Riley O’ Shea, who was just ordained with Fr. Joshua Fons, will be offering what’s called a Mass of Thanksgiving here at St Pat’s on Saturday at 5pm (June 15th). You might remember that he did a seminarian internship here a couple of years ago. If you see him, congratulate him.
Happy Father’s Day and the Science of Fatherhood
This Sunday we celebrate Father’s day. Yes, we see a severely impoverished image of fatherhood in secular entertainment and politics. Yes, we may not hear much about fatherhood in a healthy way outside of Church. But this weekend we as Christians have an opportunity to truly honor our fathers and father-figures in our lives. Experience and data show that the true love, sacrifice, and presence of fathers and father figures is absolutely life-changing for those entrusted to their care. Fathers have the unique power to affirm the identity of our children by speaking truth to them, creating a place of safety for them and challenging them to take risks. While no earthly father is perfect like our heavenly father, this weekend we can find the good in our fathers and the father-figures in our lives and thank them for their love and sacrifice.
The Knights of Columbus have put out an excellent free resource I would love for the men of the parish to read called, The Science of Fatherhood (31pp). I’m hoping we can get copies of this digital booklet for the parish. But this is very good and is filled with studies on fatherhood and practical advice on how to be a good father. I highly recommend this. If you’re a father, I encourage you to take some time and invest in your fatherhood and read this. If you’re not a father but in fact love one or support one, then I still encourage you to read this and encourage your loved one to read it. Here is the table of contents:
Part 1: Secular Studies Show the Vital Importance of Dads for the Family
Part 2: Make the Most of your “Fatherhood Edge” for your Children
Part 3: Prater has a Measurable Value That Can be Applied To Your Life
Part 4: Your Good Friends and Your Long, Happy Life
Part 5: The Long-Term Outcomes of Your Spiritual Leadership
May God be praised for the love of the fathers in our parish!
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias