On Mission! Together
When preparing for marriage, the bride and groom sometimes naïvely expect that they “will collaborate perfectly, always talking through each decision with each other.” That’s a lovely but impossible goal. Once the first child comes along, for example, they’ll make decisions faster than they could possibly talk through them. When Junior is about to spill boiling water on himself, will Dad and Mom talk it through before intervening? No, Dad will do what he thinks fathers do, very likely what his own father did, and maybe swoop in gently to redirect Junior. Mom will do what she thinks mothers do, very likely what her own mother did, and maybe shout sternly to startle Junior into momentary paralysis. Which is right? Child psychologists disagree. Dad and Mom must learn to live with and appreciate each other, despite their conflicts of expectation and their inability to talk everything through.
Something similar must happen among RocKenRo’s three parishes. We have three different histories, patrimonies, habits, expectations, hopes, and fears. It’s too cheap for any one community to take pride in its own strengths and lament the weaknesses of the others. If we have any chance of sharing our mission and life in a healthy (“saving”) manner, we’ve got to do better: We’ve got to learn to appreciate each other even when our contributions are not necessarily identical, equal in value, comparable, or—here’s a hard part—even when we do not feel equally appreciated.
X St. Malachy Parish brings us the neighborly tradition of an annual picnic. Please join your brothers and sisters at our first RocKenRo Picnic at Fairhaven Park this Sunday, July 21. The St. Malachy folk group will play for an outdoor Mass at 1:00 and food will follow beginning at 2:00.
X RocKenRo hosts a workshop with the St. Gregory Institute, founded by Nicholas J. Will, professor of sacred music at Franciscan University Steubenville, and director of music at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. Musicians from the region will learn chant, polyphony, and their place at Mass. Thus these special Masses with very fine music:
Monday, July 22, 6:30 p.m., at Holy Trinity, w/guest priest Fr. Nicholas Vaskov
Tuesday, July 23, 6:30 p.m., at Holy Trinity, English-Latin mix, Missa de Angelis)
Wednesday, July 24, 5:00 p.m., at St. Mary Help of Christians (St. John of God)
Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit in the Latin extraordinary form
Missa Secunda w/guest priest Fr. Aleksandr Schrenk
X We’ll explore the possibility of parish consolidation at a series of assemblies:
St. Malachy: September 14 at 5:15 p.m. or September 15 at 12:15 p.m.
St. John of God: September 21 at 5:45 p.m. or September 22 at 11:00 a.m.
Holy Trinity: September 28 at 6:15 p.m. or September 29 at 1:15 p.m.
Your feedback will be accepted at any assembly, even if not in your home parish. Meanwhile, please pray that each of us remain open to the will of our Lord and the movement of his Holy Spirit.
—Fr. Dave
