The month of August (which has snuck upon us) is filled with some wonderful feast days. Chief among them, of course, is August 15th, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. During August we also celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the Memorial of the Queenship of Mary, and the Memorial of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. Scattered throughout the month are also the feast days of many wonderful priest saints such as St. Alphonsus, St. Peter Julian Eymard, St. Dominic, Pope St. Pius X, Bernard of Clairveaux, St. Augustine, St. John Eudes, and St. Maximilian Kolbe. On August 4th, the Church celebrates the feast of the patron saint of parish priests, St. Jean Baptiste Marie Vianney (often referred to as St. John Vianney). The Church’s calendar has always been for me a way of entering into prayer and the sacred mysteries. It helps me to see my life as part of something bigger than myself and to see that time is sanctified. We do not “make it up as we go along,” but rather we enter into the mysteries. The liturgical seasons, the feasts of saints, and the Mysteries of our Lord’s life, Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension help us to make sense of our life here and now. They shine light upon our life here and now and they provide points of access into the Sacred. August, particularly known for its many feasts of saintly priests, provides priests an opportunity to ponder their own vocation, to be renewed in their pastoral ministry, and to seek the intercession of their saintly models. For me, August provides me an opportunity to reflect upon my own priestly ministry here at St. Patrick Parish. It was two years ago in August that the Cardinal assigned me here. First–on the Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe–as Administrator, and then, on the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, as Pastor. Both of them suffered rather gruesome martyrdoms, so I was hoping that these were not indications of how things would go for me in this assignment! I tend to think that there is not one particular reason for these particular patrons to be given to me, but rather they are given to me as heavenly friends to help me to see whatever it is that the Lord wants from me at a given moment. One thing that strikes me this year about these two patrons is that they both bore witness to the family and died for the sake of the family. John the Baptist died defending marriage and Maximilian Kolbe offered himself as a replacement for a Jewish husband and father who had been selected for execution in a Nazi concentration camp. In addition to wanting to help in building up and strengthening individual marriages and families, this August, I ask the Lord for the grace to be more dedicated to our parish family, shepherding it well, being a faithful father. I’d appreciate your prayers in this regard. I pray for you every day and am grateful whenever someone tells me that they are praying for me. I am very grateful to be the parish priest of this parish family. A couple of weeks ago, some friends of mine from a previous parish came for Mass here and we had dinner together afterwards. They commented on how friendly and welcoming you all were. A week later, a young family I know from when I was at BU showed up for Sunday Mass and we had breakfast afterwards. They too commented on how friendly and welcoming you all were. That is also my experience and the experience of the priests and seminarians assigned here. I’ve heard priests over the years feel run down by criticism, negativity, and continuous complaints. I always feel bad about that. I know that I speak for the priests and seminarians assigned here that we are grateful for your constant kindness, support, and love. We are grateful to be part of this family. Your Brother in Christ, Fr. David Barnes

When I was assigned to the Catholic Center at Boston University, I was always struck by what you might call the “evangelical ingenuity” of the college men and women at the Catholic Center. In a particular way, at the beginning of each year, the students there would put together a host of events–trips for cannolis in the North End, a barbecue, ultimate frisbee night, game night, and other similar events. The events were intended to be inviting and to be a way for new students to ease their way into a community. It’s obviously a lot easier to do that on a college campus than in a parish. On a college campus, the kids are in classes with one another, living in the same dorms together, and eating in the same dining halls. It’s amazing how many kids you could meet simply by tossing around a frisbee and handing out free freeze-pops! Parish life is a little more complicated in this regard. At the same time, we too want to provide opportunities for people to encounter Christ. We want to provide moments where it is possible for someone to “ease in” to Catholic life. Or, if they are already somewhat involved, to ease them into a deeper Catholic life. I think of the encounter that John and Andrew had with the Lord when Jesus asked them, “What are you looking for?” Their somewhat clumsy response was, “Master, where do you stay?” Jesus did not then provide them a list of prayers to say or a list of do’s and don’ts, instead he said, “Come and see.” In so many ways, this seems to me to be the model for evangelization. The Lord invites them to go deeper. He invites them to come and experience His friendship, His Presence. He eases them into a relationship with Himself and invites them into something attractive and wonderful. On a parish level, I am impressed by how many opportunities there are for people to ease into a deeper relationship with the Lord. There are groups that attend to those who are grieving the loss of loved ones and groups that attend to those experiencing separation and divorce. There are groups that bring people together to serve the poor, a group for young couples and families, a group of men and women who are leaders in our emerging youth ministry program, prayer groups, the Thursday night bible study, a women’s bible study, a men’s group, and during the summer, a small group that watches and discusses, “The Chosen” together. There are also now small groups of high school students meeting together with mentors to help them to encounter the joy and depth of Catholic life. These “official” groups are not the only way. I am always happy to hear how other parishioners meet up with one another after Mass for coffee or who check in on one another during the week. All of these groups are intended to draw one another into deeper communion with one another and with the Lord. The Lord is inviting everyone into a deeper friendship with Himself. He is inviting all of us to, “Come and See.” One thing I deeply admired about the young college students was their passion for evangelization and their love for their fellow students. I also admired their capacity to find ways to ease others in. They hung out with others and invited them to come and share a meal or a cup of coffee. They showed others that they cared about them and they showed themselves to be, in fact, normal and fun human beings. These friendships eventually would lead–slowly–to deeper conversations and invitations to, “Come and See.” In the gospels we read how Jesus would visit the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary and share meals and friendship together. This is the Lord’s method. The college students adopted this method as their own. Friendship is a key to evangelizing. In the friendship of the Church, we come to encounter the deeper life that the Lord desires for us. We come to experience communion. The Eucharist–Holy Communion–is both the source and the summit of true communion. The Eucharist not only deepens our own communion with the Lord and with each other, but it also impels us–out of love–to invite all others to “come and see” this new way of life, this new way of being. Not everyone is yet ready to partake of the Eucharist, but our desire should be to–little by little–help them experience friendship in the Lord. And ease them–little by little–into full communion in the Church, until they too are nourished by the Lord’s Body and Blood, the summit of communion. During the summer months, I have had lots of opportunities to be with friends–both lay people and priests–whose friendship deepens my own humanity and leads me to a deeper friendship with the Lord. In my own life, I have discovered that simply living the Catholic life in friendship with others has a magnetic power to draw others more deeply into deeper communion with the Lord. When we love one another in the Lord, those friendships contain within themselves an attractive quality that themselves become a visible invitation to others to “come and see.” My prayer is that our communion together as a parish might be for all we encounter, a call, a plea, and an invitation to “come and see.” Your Brother in Christ, Fr. David Barnes