…”Brothers and sisters, rejoice. Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the holy ones greet you. The grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.” The second reading, on this Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, is the second letter from Saint Paul to the Corinthians. Saint Paul really sets the model and recipe for a unity in the community – the Body of Christ. Rejoice. Mend. Agree. Live in peace. Greet. These strong actions will strengthen the bonds of the community. And as we do for others, the Lord will do for us. Reflect on these strong actions. How can they help you strengthen the unity of your marriage, your family and our community?
….This weekend, in a very special way, I echo Saint Paul’s words – brothers and sisters, REJOICE – as we begin the celebration of the 60th anniversary of our parish community (June 13, 1957). We have every reason to rejoice and give thanks to God for the blessings we have received and the good we do, together, in the name of the Lord. Our parish is alive, strong and richly blessed by a good and gracious God. We are blessed with wonderful, faithful, generous and caring members. Rejoice….rejoice in the Lord. Let us bless the Lord.
…I often say, ‘there are a thousand reasons I thank God each day for our parish community and our good members.’ I could give example after example. Two from Tuesday of this past week. It was humbling and inspiring to join with our Catholic Works of Mercy team and the families receiving food from our Foodbank. We started with a time of prayer to offer the spiritual food each of us needs. Afterward, the CWM shared the food that you brought to Church last weekend. “What you do for the least, you do for me.” From there, I shared some time with our Women’s Guild. Wonderfully… they were discussing how they can best help and support the needs of our parish community. So thoughtful. So faithful. So hard working and giving for the Lord and our community. Brothers and sisters, Rejoice!
…This week we REJOICE as we welcome Father Adam Zajac to our parish community. He comes to us having completed his four year assignment at Holy Angels Parish in Bainbridge. Father Adam will also be working one day a week in our Diocesan Tribunal. He will be a great help in working with those who need annulments. Father Adam’s sister, Jessica, was part of The FEST team during her college years and spent a few years at Saint Ambrose working in youth ministry before settling into her family life living close by in Medina. Brothers and sisters, Rejoice.
…Soon you will be receiving a Vision 20/20 update newsletter. It outlines so many of the projects we have completed – thanks to your generosity and support. We now have the ‘space’ we need for our vibrant community. One of the blessings was moving the Parish Offices from the priest living space. Having decent ‘living space’ for the priests has really opened the door to having great young clergy like Father Rob, Father Adam, Deacon Matt and, in the fall, Josh Cochrac from Saint Mary Seminary. Thank you for all you do for our parish community. Rejoice.
…Father Adam will be a big help as we continue to serve and assist at Saint Martin’s. Long-time member, Dennis Reidy, was at Saint Martin for a funeral this past week. He chuckled as he saw me walk in, “I wondered which one of you was gonna show up!” (I told him he got the short straw as he was stuck with me). We will begin doing week day Masses at Saint Martin on Wednesday and Friday at 8:00 am. This will be a great blessing to their community.
…This coming Tuesday, June 13, we have invited the priests who formerly served at Saint Ambrose to join us for a dinner to commemorate the 60th anniversary of our parish and to celebrate their service to our community. We will also be inviting them back over the course of the year to have a Sunday Mass with our community.
…If you come into the narthex (connector between the Church and PLC) you will see a new garden in honor of those to have served and continue to serve in our military. One of our members wanted to do something special as we begin our 60th anniversary. After some prayer and discussion, given all things in our world, we concluded that creating this garden would remind all of us how blessed we are to have the freedom to celebrate our faith and to always remember those who have fought for our freedom and those today who serve to protect us. It’s a beautiful gift and reminder. Check it out. While there…rejoice.
…Speaking of those who have fought for our freedom, last week the VFW wonderfully donated a new flag pole for our football field. It will be one more way of celebrating our country and forming the minds and hearts of our youth as they practice and play their games. God bless the Brunswick VFW. It will be installed soon.
…This weekend, as we kick-off our 60th anniversary year, you will notice some new banners to remind us to use this anniversary to give thanks to God for the blessings of our family of faith at Saint Ambrose. We will also have some ‘tasty’ reminders as our good friends from Doughnut Land have created a signature Saint Ambrose anniversary doughnut. It’s a special honey glazed doughnut… because Saint Ambrose was a beekeeper. He was a sweet-tongued preacher. May these delicious doughnuts be a special treat to remind us to follow the wisdom of Saint Paul and speak sweet words of God’s love to one another.
…Our summer festival is rapidly approaching. On this feast of the Trinity, we celebrate many people united in the love of God. One of the reasons we have the festival is that it’s large enough for many of us to come together to work on one big thing – together. We need lots of volunteers for a few hours. Many hands make for a great event. Go to: www.StAmbrose.us/volunteer. We need you.
…Many thanks to all who have already supported the summer festival raffle. We are blessed with great prizes. We need your help and support. One of our members dropped off their tickets the other day and took five more books to sell at work. “All you gotta do is ask.”
…God bless our Golf Outing Committee. This Sunday is a great day for golf and a blessing for so many of our students in need. All the proceeds from the outing will support helping our young people grow and develop in the ways of the Lord. Special thanks to member Chris Houdek and Bedford Mazda for being the lead sponsor and even giving our golfers a chance to win a new car. It’s all about the hole in one. More importantly, rejoice for the good we are doing for our young people.
…As we enter into this anniversary year, we have every reason to rejoice and celebrate. We are blessed with such a strong foundation set by those who have gone before us. With God’s help – and you – we have a bright and hopeful future. Happy Anniversary. Welcome Father Adam. And REJOICE.
