From the Desk

I am away with 43 other pilgrims, visiting Fatima, Lourdes, Montserrat, Barcelona, and other Catholic pilgrimage sites in Spain, Portugal, and a corner of France. I have taken the daily mass intentions with me, and they will be offered on the various altar of my journey. This pilgrimage is devoted to our Blessed Lady, and I hope you know that I will pray for you and yours, and ask Mary to watch over and guard you.

Our plan is to break ground for our new state of the art Early Childhood Center in the spring of 2024. Currently, we are at $4.8 million in cash and pledges. We need to reach $6 million to break ground. Breaking ground will lock in prices for materials, which will help us win the race against inflation.

This past week, I have found myself returning to thoughts of those three innocent people killed in Florida by a deranged, racist gunman. Imagine leaving your house for a routine shopping trip and ending up dead simply because some man with a gun doesn’t like the color of your skin. Sadly, the problem of racism is also a problem of violence that black Americans have had to endure for far too long. Racism is a particularly insidious sin, in part because it can be hidden and denied easily. If we allow racist attitudes an unchallenged place in our hearts, we will become ever more prone to acting out our racism. In the extreme, it becomes horribly violent.

Currently, our Religious Education program is still in need of volunteers to teach or assist in our classes. We will have a Sunday morning RE session between the 9:30 a.m. and noon Mass, and a Wednesday evening session. Helping to pass on the faith to the next generation is a terrific way to assist the parish in its mission. Please contact Judi Wilkinson, our DRE, if you would like to volunteer.

Lesson #1: God loves you. We were created by God and made in his image and likeness. He loves us so much that he sent us his only Son to be our Savior while we were still sinners. He loves us despite our sins and failures. He gave us free-will so that we might chose to love him above all things.

Our school community is gearing up for another academic year. We are blessed this year with increased enrollment and a very talented faculty and administration. As you know, our school is our largest ministry. The goal of a Catholic School is always to provide a quality education and to hand on the rich deposit of faith. We'll celebrate our students and faculty/administration on Sunday, Aug. 20. We encourage all kids in the parish to wear their school uniform, or their school's t-shirt. We don't want to forget our public school kids! 

Saturday, August 12 at 10 am, Deacon Rodrigo will be ordained to the priesthood at Our Lady’s Cathedral here in OKC! Everyone is invited to attend the ordination. Because he has served here at St. Eugene for several months as a transitional deacon, I hope we have a big crowd of St. Eugene people attend the Ordination.

Some Christians believe that the bread and wine (or, grape juice) used in their communion services are simply that: bread and wine. They believe the action of sharing communion is a remembrance of Jesus. They are very uncomfortable with any talk of Jesus being present in the bread and wine.

Going into this summer assignment I did not know what to expect. I had never talked to Fr. Jim for more than ten seconds, and Fr. Jerome was ordained the first year I became a seminarian. I did not have any real interaction with these priests who I would be living with for the summer. Despite my worries of not liking the priests or the priests not liking me, I was welcomed to St. Eugene with open arms, and I could not be more grateful.

On July 18, following the 5:30 pm Mass, we will have a family night here in the church and outside of the church. Father Jerome will lead a family friendly adoration period (he’ll teach the kids about adoration and they will join in adoration). Afterward, there will be a Food Truck behind the church in the shade. Everyone is welcomed to attend! OUR LONG AWAITED CHAIRS HAVE ARRIVED!