One of the things I enjoy in the summer months is having a seminarian in our parish. Believe it or not, Tim Eck is the tenth to spend a summer with us since I arrived in this wonderful parish. Getting to know these future priests gives me great hope for the future of our Church.

I have heard good things about the Bible Study that our seminarian is conducting on Wednesday evenings. People who spoke to me said they found it informative and helpful. If you haven’t yet attended, it will run on Wednesday evenings in the Parish Meeting Room beneath Mercy Hall (enter through the door by the parking lot and follow the signs) at 7 PM.

Beginning this week, Tim will also be leading the Miraculous Medal Novena in the chapel on Monday evenings at 7 PM. Each evening will include the praying of the novena prayers, a brief reflection by our seminarian, veneration of the relic of St. Catherine Laboure, and the Holy Rosary. I am very grateful that Tim will be doing this and hope many people will join these prayers each Monday.

Ever since I was a child, I always associated summer with the outdoors. It always seemed like, once the weather got warmer, my family and friends did more outdoor things. I particularly remember things like swimming, picnics and going for long walks in the woods near my home as outdoor things I enjoyed doing with my friends.

As Catholics, we have a tradition of religious ‘long walks’ called pilgrimages. From the time the Church began, Christian people would make pilgrimages, journeying to see and pray at the places where Jesus was born, preached and performed miracles, died, and rose from the dead. They did this in imitation of the Holy Family who used to make pilgrimages of their own, such as journeying to the Temple of Jerusalem to celebrate Holy Days. More than just a holy road trip, a pilgrimage reminds us that our whole life on earth is a journey towards Heaven.

I want to start by thanking everyone for their generous support of the Mission Co-op Collection last weekend. As usual, our parish responded generously to the call to "teach all nations" by supporting Franciscan Works in Liberia. Thanks again to one and all.

As I write these words, our historic pipe organ is being dismantled and carried from our Church. It will be transported to the workshop of the Peragallo Pipe Organ Company where it will be completely renovated and returned for service in a few months. Our music ministers will use a keyboard and other instruments in the meantime to support our singing and chanting.

Those who know me well know that winter is actually my favorite season of the year. Ever since I was a kid, the heat bothered me a lot more than the cold. Perhaps that’s why I always loved the winter.

But there have always been some things I love about the summer, too. The longer daylight, baseball, summer vacation (a bigger deal when I was a kid than now,) and the generally slower pace of things are a few things I love about summer.

That being said, this summer is not shaping up to be very slow at all. Instead, it’s looking like we will have a very busy summer here at St. Philip and St. James, which is certainly fine with me.