I asked one of the school moms how many days were left of summer vacation and she answered with the exact number. Apparently some parents count the remaining vacation days like students count days near the end of the school year. The nice thing about living here is that we still have a couple of months left to experience these warm summer days. Hopefully you have experienced something memorable this summer.

Have you experienced God’s gift of creation? Is there a newborn in your family? Or maybe God works through nature. Do you have an abundance of new tomatoes or beans or squash? Do your plants have new blossoms?

I do hope each of you has had a little time away from your normal routine to pause, to reflect, to re-energize and hopefully to realize how much God loves you and connects with you through those you meet and care for, as well as through those who care for you.

In the next couple of weeks the parish comes more alive again with both spiritual and social events planned. Sorry kids, school starts August 24th. Some of us are looking forward to seeing you again.

As a Parish Community

FALL KICK-OFF BBQ

Saturday, August 27th
Following the 4:30 pm Mass in the middle yard

For young and all—$5 Adults/$3 Kids

Tickets sold after all the Masses August 13th & 14th, and 20th & 21st.
Tickets can also be purchased at the BBQ.

Back to School
St. Robert School will open for the 2005-2006 school year on Wednesday, August 24th, at 8 am. All parents are invited to attend the Opening Day Breakfast in Hennessy Hall following the 8:30 am Mass. Our first school Mass of the year will be on Friday, September 2nd, at 8:30 am. All are invited to attend.

Mark your calendars
Back to School Night for parents of students in grades K-5 will be on Tuesday, September 6th. Back to School Night for parents of students in grades 6-8 will be held on Thursday, September 8th. More details will follow in the School Newsletter.

The readings today all talk about foreigners: “those who join themselves to the Lord” in the Isaiah reading; the Gentiles (non-Jews) to whom Paul addresses himself; and the Canaanite woman approaching Jesus in the gospel. Recall that the Jews had a sense of themselves as the chosen people, those set apart, those through whom and to whom the Messiah would come. They had been told, through the prophets, to be hospitable to strangers and foreigners since more than once in their history they had been strangers in a foreign land.

Jesus sounds at first as though he won’t cure this woman because she isn’t Jewish. She shows great courage to keep calling after him. She engages him in conversation, breaking the custom of the time which gave women no voice. Though we can’t hear his tone of voice, he sounds at least somewhat negative in his reply about not giving the food of children to the dogs. But she is not put off; she uses his own analogy to press her point: even dogs get to eat the scraps! Because of her faith and probably her persistence, he heals her daughter.

What is our attitude towards foreigners? There is so much talk about immigration reform in the newspapers. It is definitely a complicated topic and there are many facets to the situation. But before we enter into discussion, might it not serve us well to remember that unless we are Native American, we are all foreigners. Maybe my relatives came a generation or two before yours, but they came from another place nonetheless. And didn’t most of our ancestors come in search of a better life, especially for their children? I cringe when I hear the words “illegal aliens” because it makes people sound as though they are coming from another planet. I often wonder what I would do if I was unable to provide the most basic necessities for my family: food, a decent place to live, and hope for a future which would be better than the desperation of the present. Many of the immigrants who come may indeed be undocumented, but wouldn’t most of us feel forced to do the same if we had few or no options? Those who have come legally can attest to the labyrinthine process of waiting and waiting and of family members being separated for a decade or more.

The universal Church and our parish are blest by the presence of people from many countries and cultures. All of us – the new arrivals and those who’ve been here a long time – are invited to open our hearts and minds to religious practices different from those to which we are accustomed. “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” Isaiah says. Our God is so inclusive and we are fortunate to have a taste of his kingdom here on earth.