July 26th, 2026 – Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Brothers and sisters,
We all long for intimacy and union with God. As Saint Augustine says, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” While we seek Him, we often struggle to invest the time and energy required, pulled as we are by day-today concerns and countless obligations. I would like to offer you a simple yet powerful way to stay centered on God and experience that sense of union you long for. I have found profound joy and peace through Lectio Divina, the practice of praying with Scripture. I invite you to consider this way of prayer as a path to the loving union we all desire. It only takes a commitment of 20 minutes a day (30 if you are generous).
I would like to share a beautiful and powerful story from Fr. William Meninger, OCSO, on the transformative power of prayer, and I hope that it stirs a desire in you. It’s a story called “The Cheese Sandwich Story.” In the 1920s, a family —a mother, father, and their 16-year-old son—traveled by ship from Italy to America. The villagers, knowing the family was poor, filled their bags with bread and cheese to last the journey. Their ticket was expensive —$50, a huge sum at the time—so they stayed in their cabin, intimidated by the ship’s grandeur and keeping to simple meals of bread and cheese.
One day, the young son decided to explore the ship. He didn’t return for hours, and his father, worried, went looking for him. While searching, the father discovered many parts of the ship he hadn’t known about: a library, deck chairs, and even a lavish dining room with music and dancing. There, he found his son enjoying a grand feast—steak, lobster, fresh fruit, and desserts. Shocked, the father worried they would have to pay for the meal, but his son smiled and said, “Dad, it’s all included in the ticket. I even ordered dinner for all of us, which we could have had every day of our journey.”
The family had been eating cheese sandwiches, unaware that they could have been feasting every day. This story reflects the spiritual lives of so many baptized Christians. We have access to a sumptuous banquet in prayer, yet we settle for “cheese sandwiches” because we don’t know what is available to us. We, as Catholics, have an abundance of treasures when it comes to prayer, such as Centering Prayer, mantra prayer, meditation, contemplation, Lectio Divina, Visio Divina, discursive prayer, and mental prayer. Here, I would like to invite you to learn about and become familiar with Lectio Divina on your own before we come together as a group.
Lectio Divina is a way to move beyond “cheese sandwiches” to a rich and fulfilling encounter with God. Through this prayer, we come to a true feast for the soul, discovering the richness God offers us in His Word. Baptism, and our journey with God, includes this “banquet” that nourishes and transforms us. Just as the family in the story discovered that the journey offered more than they realized, so can we discover a deeper union with God that changes the way we love and live.
To help you get started, here’s a link to practice Lectio Divina with the Sunday Scriptures: https://catholic.bible/lectio-divina-in-english.
Fr. Arul Ponnaiyan
July 19th, 2026 – Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”
(Albert Camus)
Dear Friends,
Praying your summer goes well, and that in the midst of anything that feels like the depth of winter in life, be it with health or relationships or worry or divisions or stress or overwork or isolation or mental health or anything in the long list of struggles we all face personally or communally, that this summer gives you invincible HOPE!
Our readings this Sunday speak so powerfully of the resiliency of faith in the mix of this all. From the Book of Wisdom (ch. 12): “And you taught your people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind; and you gave your people good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins.” From St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans (ch. 8): “The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness.” And in the Gospel of Matthew (ch. 13): “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.”
In a time of history that seems somewhat cold, we Christians need to live the Kingdom of Heaven in the small seeds we plant. To accept the warmth of God’s summer love in order to be that warmth to a divided and isolating culture: that is our call!
So everyone, start small! Even in that which seems cold and inadequate in our weaknesses, God will accomplish great things! Jesus Christ is Lord of Heaven and earth, and from the winters in life will always bring the love and hope of invincible summer!
With love,
Fr. Tim
July 12th, 2026 – Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I’m thrilled to invite our Family of Four Parishes to something truly beautiful and transformative—an experience that can deepen your relationship with God through His living Word, Sacred Scripture. God speaks to each of us through Scripture. “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12).” Indeed it has power to change our hearts and transform our lives. Many saints, monks, nuns, holy men and women have discovered this intimate connection with God through a time-honored spiritual practice called Lectio Divina, which means “divine reading.”
This beautiful method helps us move from words to silence, from understanding in the head to union in the heart. I would like to teach you this method of prayer and invite you to experience the peace and divine presence our souls long for.
What is Lectio Divina? It is a four-step way of praying with Scripture. Each step draws us deeper into God’s presence. Here is a brief preview:
Lectio (Reading): We read the Word of God slowly and attentively, allowing it to sink into our hearts. (I suggest beginning with the daily Mass readings!)
Meditatio (Reflection): After reading, we ponder the Word, allowing it to take root within us. We reflect on how it speaks to our lives, and a particular word/phrase or image will begin to stand out.
Oratio (Response): From our reflection, we respond to God from the heart. This becomes a personal conversation with Him. As the fruit of our meditation, our hearts and senses are awakened, and we speak to Him with love, trust, and gratitude.
Contemplatio (Rest): Finally, we rest in God’s presence. No words, no thoughts—just a deep, peaceful silence as we allow God to speak to the depths of our being, drawing us into divine union.
This practice is not only powerful when done individually but can also be life-changing when shared with others. It opens our hearts to God and, over time, transforms the way we live and love each day. Join us on this journey! Stay tuned for more details about upcoming opportunities to explore this sacred practice together. I would love for you to come, learn, and grow in this beautiful way of praying—to experience divine union with God and to live each day out of that union.
With great joy and anticipation,Fr. Arul
July 5th, 2026 – Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”
(The Gospel of St. Matthew, ch. 11)
Dear Friends,
So does Jesus set the pace for our summer in this Sunday’s Gospel.
My prayer for our beloved parishes is that we take time this summer to truly rest. In his profound book, Leisure, the Basis of Culture, the philosopher Josef Pieper reminds us that at the root of truly human and profound activity is leisure and the ability to step back and breathe. When we are less full of self-importance and constant worries and preoccupations and diversions, we discover that we become more God-like. Rest not only restores, but gives us the creative energy to recreate the weary world in which we live.
So a simple message this week—Rest a bit, breathe a bit, waste a bit of time! As John Lennon famously said: “Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”
