Please allow me to
take this chance to thank so many of you for the outpouring of support and
solidarity this past week in the wake of the death of little Peter Francis
Flynn. I was amazed at how much was
offered by so many.
So many people,
seemingly from different stripes or segments of the parish, took the time and
made the effort to join the Flynns in prayer and help them with the logistical
challenges. Looking around the church on
Monday morning I just could not help but be moved by your goodness and
generosity. I have no doubt that Danny,
Kari, and all their family find great help, encouragement, and grace in you and
your love for them.
The stripes and segments
that I think we all see in the parish, for lack of better terms, yield to unity
in the face not only of tragedy and grief, but moreso in the faith and hope
that bind us.
We have grown
accustomed to the ability in our day to prevent and avoid and repair and remedy
so many, many hurtful things. We fall
into the expectation of having some recourse that our connections or technology
or government can use to “fix” whatever ails us. It is instructive that events that leave us
inarguably helpless, such as this one, bring us so unanimously to our one true help: our faith that Jesus
Christ is risen from the dead, and by our Baptism, so are we.
So thank God for the
many graces God shed in our lives over these days, and let us pray that He continue
to be so extravagant in his blessings, especially to the Flynns and all of us
who love them.
If you see Fr.
McDonell this weekend, wish him well; he is off to Michigan and home for the
summer! I will miss him, not only
because of how he spoils me with his cooking.
He has had a rough semester, though, and needs to run away and recoup.
This weekend begins
the term of our summer seminarian. As in
most years, one of the men preparing to be a priest for our Archdiocese is
assigned here for eight weeks, to give him experience “in the field.” Unlike
our school-year seminarians (most recently Deacon Corey Krengiel) from Mount
St. Mary’s Seminary, he is to be here throughout that period, not only on
weekends, so he can encounter the full rhythm of parish life and rectory life;
and he is “one of ours,” a Washington man, so he gets a chance to know the
people, places, and priests who will be a part of the rest of his life.
Keith Burney just
finished his Second Theology year at Theological College here in Washington, at
Catholic University. He is from St. John
parish in Hollywood, Maryland, in St. Mary’s County. Other than that, I do not know him yet; like
you, I look forward to having the chance to do so over the coming weeks. I hope you get a chance to say hello to him
after your Mass this weekend, and to visit with him during coming days.
Monsignor
Smith
