Dear Friends,
I pray that these summer weeks are affording you some rest and relaxation. Who do you know? Who knows you? I have often heard it said that it is not so much what you know as who you know in regard to the things of this world. What about the spiritual world?
In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks some remarkable words, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” In other words, if we want to know God then we need to know Jesus for we cannot get to the Father except through the Son. And this is not informational knowledge, knowing about Jesus. Rather, this is interpersonal, relational knowledge. The knowledge of encountering Jesus personally.
And why do we need to know Jesus in this way? Because He holds the answers to the deepest questions of our human hearts. He is the Savior, the One who forgives, who heals, who sets us free from the shackles of sin, darkness, and death. He is the way, the truth, and life itself! Through Him we enter the fulness of life.
How comforting then are Jesus words also from this weekend’s Gospel, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” Jesus wants us to yoke ourselves to Him. We aren’t to go it alone. We have Jesus at our sides if we accept Him. His grace is sufficient, and He gives His grace abundantly.
Jesus is not only the way to the Father but the source of all peace in this world and the next. His total obedience and surrender to the Father show us the way but even more dramatically has opened up for us the font of everlasting and living waters of grace. Through Jesus we become Temples of God, God dwelling within us. That is what the Sacraments afford us. So don’t hold back. Come to Confession, come to Mass and Holy Communion receive the grace and help of Jesus here and now to become all that God the Father has created you to be.
Next weekend, we will welcome one of our parishioners, Bernadette Re, to share with our parish family about her experiences as a missionary disciple with the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT). They are working in Southwest Detroit, MI. She is just one of several of our parishioners who are living out our parish goal of Forming Missionary Disciples in a personal and hands on way. Our parish Tithing the Tithe Committee is making a donation to support this missionary work. If you wish to assist this missionary work personally, please forward your donation to the parish office. Make checks payable to Saint Eleanor and in the memo line note SOLT – Re. Thank you for your generous commitment to sharing the Gospel.
God bless you, God love you,
Monsignor McCulken
