Pastor's Corner, June 21, 2015

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

Happy and blessed Father’s Day to all our fathers!

At the beginning of the year Pope Francis spoke of the importance of fatherhood. He observed that today “one has reached the point of claiming that our society is a ‘society without fathers’… the absent father figure in the life of little ones and young people causes gaps and wounds that may even be very serious.”

In answer to this tendency, the Pope says, “The first need, then, is precisely this: that a father be present in the family. That he be close to his wife, to share everything, joy and sorrow, hope and hardship. And that he be close to his children as they grow … The Church, our mother, is committed to supporting with all her strength the good and generous presence of fathers in families.”

There is an attempt in our society to redefine marriage which would eliminate the essential quality of marriage as a relationship of complementary sexes and thus make marriage “genderless.” Marriage is unique for the reason of binding both mother and father to their own children in an exclusive and permanent bond of love. Marriage assures that children grow up with their mother and father. We need both and we thank our fathers for all they mean to us.

In Christ,

Msgr. Baker