The new school year is soon about to start and summer is coming to an end. Many of you have gone away on vacation to various different locations and hopefully you enjoyed every waking minute of your time spent away from the every day craziness.

Time is drawing closer for the next group of our candidates to be confirmed and I ask that you pray for these young people that they grow up to be strong and healthy leaders, within the community of our church.

As you all know there is much trouble in the Middle East, and I urge all of us to pray that God may open the hearts and minds of Lebanon and Israel so they realize that violence is not the answer to solve their differences. I know that we have a very strong and faithful community here at St. Roberts and if we all form a chain of daily prayers together, it will strengthen our plea of help for the Middle Eastern countries and for the many poor suffering people in the world.

Today’s Scripture readings recall two central dimensions of our faith. First they remind us of the centrality of the Eucharist as a primary source of our spiritual nourishment. The meal that we share at the Eucharistic table provides the food for the journey of our discipleship; it nourishes us to go forth with strength to further preach the word of the Lord.

Second, the reading from the Ephesians reminds us that as Christians, our discipleship must be guided by the virtues of compassion and forgiveness.

The sessions on Vatican II, which will be given Tuesday mornings at 9:15 am and repeated Tuesday evenings at 7 pm, begin Sept 5. There is no charge, of course, but I would appreciate knowing who is coming, so that I can have the appropriate number of hand-outs available. Would you please go to www.saintroberts.org and register or call the rectory and leave your name?

FALL KICK-OFF BBQ

Saturday, August 26th
Following the 4:30 pm Mass in the middle yard

For young and all—$5 Adults/$3 Kids

Tickets sold after all the Masses this weekend and on the 19th & 20th.
Tickets can also be purchased at the BBQ.

    
Sign up for E-Contributions

Go to www.saintroberts.org and click on the e-contributions button. The first page explains the details. There is a button to take you to the e-paluch registration page. You can register online using either your checking account or credit card.

Bread of Life
You might recall that the first reading on a given Sunday is always chosen because of its relationship with the gospel. Elijah is strengthened by the hearth cake of bread given him; Jesus proclaims “I am the bread of life” and will encounter opposition because of that. In the beginning of this gospel passage, Jesus distinguishes between the bread of the multiplication of the loaves and the living bread which he will give at the Last Supper and throughout all time. He uses “I am” statements which would have reminded his Jewish listeners of the voice of God instructing Moses from the burning bush, “Tell the Israelites, ‘I am’ sent you.”

In chapter six of this gospel, John’s community writing between 80 and 90 A.D. expresses the amazing theology of the Eucharist. You might find a quiet place, read it slowly, and let the comfort and the challenge it contains sink into you. Several of the songs we sing during Communion proclaim the same truth: “Bread for the world: a world of hunger. Wine for all peoples: people who thirst. May we who eat, be bread for others. May we who drink, pour out our love.” (“Bread for the World,” Bernadette Farrell) We “cradle Catholics,” want to be sure that we don’t take this wonderful gift of the Eucharist for granted. One of the RCIA candidates told me a few weeks before the Easter Vigil that she could hardly wait to receive the Eucharist. I have often thought how blest we are to have priests who celebrate the Eucharist so prayerfully after, in Fr. Marini’s case, having celebrated thousands of times!

I’ve just returned from our community gathering of 155 of us Franciscans from across the country at the Clarion in Millbrae; also with us were 20 of our associates, people who are married or single who live the Franciscan vision in their daily lives. Since our country is so large, we are organizationally in three provinces or regions, centered in Redwood City, Denver and Stella Niagara, New York. This was the first time we came together to look at how we can better bring a Franciscan presence to the United States. Our Denver sisters see themselves as women of the plains, having come from very small towns throughout the Dakotas, Nebraska and Colorado. Our Eastern sisters are mostly from throughout the cities of New York, Ohio, New Jersey, West Virginia and Florida. Our sisters in this province are mostly from the Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle. So we are different, but experienced ourselves as one through small group sharing, conversations, shared meals and most of all, the Eucharist.

ST. ROBERTS CENTERPLATE TEAM NEEDS YOUR HELP

Dress Code: Full length black slacks, (jeans or spandex are not permitted), white shirt with collar, closed toe comfortable shoes (preferably black or white).

We will car pool from the rectory. For those working in San Francisco, you can meet the group at the gate.

Volunteers between 16-21 years of age must provide a copy of a picture id which includes his/her birth date.

Dress Code for 49ers Training Camp: Tan or khaki shorts and a white shirt with a collar. There will be no other shirt used this year.