Homily , June 28, 2026
From The Pastor
Let me begin today by sharing with you what I know about the rhythm of changes that will begin this week. I will be present for Mass this week on Monday and Tuesday at 8am. June 30th will be my last day in the parish.
Going forward, until we can find a priest able and willing to commit to a daily Mass for the next year, there will no longer be a daily Mass at our site. We will offer Liturgy of the Word without communion on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9am. Music will be offered for adoration on Tuesday after the Word service. The rosary will be prayed on Thursdays after the Word service.
A Confession schedule will be determined by Fr. Paul Snyder. Registration for Religious Formation will take place at St. Mary’s in Royal Oak. With less than ten children in the program it is no longer a viable per cost or effective learning environment.
All other regular ministries and services will be offered on Sunday at the 9:00 am Mass. All ministers and greeters scheduled for this Mass are to hold their assignments. New scheduling will be out soon to accommodate and include as many Readers, Eucharistic Ministers, and Sacristans as possible. As I mentioned, please be most welcoming and accommodating as we invite the 4 pm Mass people into the Sunday morning Mass time. Please share your regular seat if necessary. Be attentive to Mass announcements and the Bulletin to stay informed of changes or times of parish offerings, or other parish news. I am confident you will warmly welcome whatever priest comes to offer Mass. Please pray for your priest and encourage his good efforts.
By way of encouragement and appreciation, I will attempt to name many of the ministries and generous volunteers who share their time and talent for the good of others. A full-hearted thank you to the Funeral Lunch teams, the Gardening group, Homebound Ministers and Nursing Home Eucharistic ministers. Sacristans, Readers, EM’s, greeters, and the Choir. Those who have served on Parish Council, any of the Commissions, Leadership Team, Parish Intercessors with Eucharistic Adoration, Men’s and Women’s prayer groups, the Rosary group, and the Healing Teams. Those on the Hospitality teams, Coffee and Donut servers, and the many years of service by our Ushers. I am grateful for all volunteers and active participants in each of our many parish offerings. Each and all of you are to be commended for your commitments and generous service for the sake of others and your own spiritual enrichment. There is never enough said in the way of thanks to so many. For all whom I may have failed to include, you are included and deeply appreciated. This is a strong parish. Pray for a priest, and a strong future, and keep doing what you are doing for the Lord.
Considering today’s gospel, allow the love of Christ to flow into you and through you to others. Doing so will help wash away doubt, fear, and mistrust. It will help you feel connected and less lonely through the experience of belonging to something larger than yourself. This takes a ready mindfulness of the awareness of Christ ever-present within you. We are called to be in the mind and attitude of Christ holding his thoughts along with our own lest we go our way unaware of the One who is our Source and Origin. We are invited to depend on the thoughts and ways of the Lord rather than following the course of our own plans. This reminds us we are never alone. Too often we fall into a dull awareness of self-preoccupation of our own interests and concerns. Pay attention to where your attention takes you, always drawing yourself back to an awareness of the presence of the Lord in your daily activities.
Making our own plans, without the mind and the heart of the Lord, is how we lose ourselves without knowing it. When we direct our life and activity toward others in the way of Christ we more fully find ourselves through shared love and service for the sake of others. We are blessed and enriched by the grace we share and so is the other person. As we reflected last week, God in the Trinity is an endless flow of giving and receiving of love. This is the way of the Cross. The way of the Cross is not how much suffering we endure, the problems we face, or the hurts and disappointments we encounter. The Cross of Christ is the Cross of love with a mindful readiness to be available to the needs of others. As we learn to serve others, they will in turn learn to do the same. The grace of God’s love flows into us and through us to others. The world becomes better, more Christ-filled when we live in this manner.
I see so many of you living in just this way. It has been a blessing to serve you as you have served and challenged me to be my better self in self-giving love for you. Please pray for me as I will do for you. God bless you all.
Father John Esper
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