Father Hathaway’s weekly column – June 21, 2020
GRADUATING ALTAR SERVERS
Our altar servers for the 11:30 a.m. Mass today, Sunday, June 21, are young men graduating from high school and, therefore, leaving us as servers: David Baughan, Campbell Bright, Thomas Caballero, Gennaro Cardarelli, Christopher Cowardin, Colin Fletcher, Peter Gaietto, Evan Hood, Will Jacobs, Harrison Jones, Erik Kessmeier and Patrick Scolese. They have assisted at Mass at the Basilica for the last seven to nine years!
My sincere thanks to them, and their supportive parents, for serving the parish and helping make the Mass and other liturgies move smoothly and reverently. We wish them well and ask God to bless and guide them in whatever the future bring.
FATHER JAMES WAALKES’ CELEBRATING MASS AT THE BASILICA
Father James Waalkes, ordained to the priesthood on June 6, will celebrate our 10 a.m. Mass today, Sunday, June 21. Since Father James spent his diaconate year with us, we consider him to be one of “ours”! Please continue to pray for him and the others recently ordained as priests and deacons. Our Arlington Diocese is truly blessed with such good men.
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY
God bless all the fathers, stepfathers and godfathers, living and deceased, of our parish on this Father’s Day! Today is a good day to invoke the intercession of Saint Joseph, foster father of Jesus and model of human fatherhood.
You can honor the fathers in your life by enrolling them in our annual Father’s Day Novena of Masses, which begins today, June 21. This year we are including a special video e-card and downloadable card image you can send to the recipient via email or by printing the image and mailing it.
A Blessing for Fathers
God our Father, in your wisdom and love you made all things.
Bless these men, that they may be strengthened as Christian fathers.
Let the example of their faith and love shine forth.
Grant that we, their sons and daughters, may honor them always
with a spirit of profound respect. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
SAINTS THOMAS MORE & JOHN FISHER
Monday, June 22, is the feast of Saints Thomas More and John Fisher, martyrs for the faith.
Saint Thomas More, along with Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, is a patron of our Arlington Diocese and patron of lawyers, statesmen and politicians. His statue stands at the back of our Basilica. Chancellor of England, he was beheaded on July 6, 1535, for refusing to support Henry VIII’s divorce of Queen Catherine and the king’s action usurping the Pope and making himself the head of the Church of England. Saint John Fisher, Chancellor of Cambridge University and Bishop of Rochester, was beheaded on June 22, 1535, also for promoting the primacy of Rome against Henry VIII. Let us hope and pray that we can share in the strength and faith of these men who gave their lives for God.
OUR SUNDAY BULLETIN IS ONLINE
Paper bulletins are not currently being distributed in the church due to COVID-19 restrictions, but you can download our weekly bulletin online at https://stmaryoldtown.org/bulletin/