Dear Parish Family,

Open your hearts to receive Jesus! Jesus is always there to welcome us with open arms, but we also need to make a corresponding move to receive His love, mercy, and grace. We follow Jesus' words in today's Gospel that whoever receives Him receives the Father, and whoever receives the good in others will receive a good reward. Love, serve, and give generously to others as God gives to you, and you will be like Him!

Last week, I spoke about ministry to our youth as a work of the entire Church. This week, I would like to delve deeper into the particulars of how each of us can support and invest in the youth of our parish through prayer, involvement, financial support, and witness. 

First and foremost, all of us need to pray for our young people as they encounter Christ and support our ministries to our youth financially and through parish involvement. Just as parents invest in the future of their children, so too does our Church invest in our youth. The gains of these investments are not immediately evident, but they are necessary for the vibrancy and future of our beloved Church.

Think of the reason you yourself are a disciple of Christ. Someone invested in you. They believed in you and gave you opportunities to encounter Christ through small acts of love. It could have been the witness of their faith, a gift that made you realize you are loved, an invitation to attend a retreat or a time of prayer, or even helping you pay for an opportunity you could not yet afford. Small acts of love multiply exponentially. I speak from my own experience in all of these regards: I would not be a priest today if my parents, parish community, priests, youth group, and friends didn't invest in my faith formation as a young disciple. A friend inviting me on a retreat, my parents helping me attend World Youth Day, the priest of my youth group spending time with me and encouraging me to consider priesthood, and the prayers of my parish community all impacted me greatly as a teen.

Now is the time for all of us to pay it forward and invest in the youth of our parish. Pray for our youth ministries and young people, seriously consider serving as a Life Teen or EDGE core member, encourage your family members and friends to participate in some way. Flyers are available in the St. Mary gathering space, or you can reach out to me or Nicky to learn more about the opportunity to serve in this new and fun ministry! Don't look at the chance to invest by saying, "Someone else will do it" or "That's not for me." Christ is calling YOU. Do not be afraid! What does that call look like for you at your stage in life? 

I am happy to announce that we have opened up Life Teen Sponsorships on the St. Mary Chardon OSV giving page: https://www.osvhub.com/stmarychardon/giving/funds/life-teen. We have daily sponsorships at $50, retreat sponsorships at $150 and $250, and conference sponsorships at $500 and $1,000. These sponsorships are essential for providing for our EDGE and Life Teen nights and scholarships for our teens and core members to be formed on retreats and conferences. You can set up a one-time or recurring gift, and make a designation for your gift "in honor of" or "in memory of" or even "I invest in Life Teen because...". Sponsor names and designations will be included in the bulletin each week (no amounts will be shown). Be the blessing our youth need this year! 

This is Fr. Fabian's final week with us! He will preach at all Masses at St. Mary's this weekend, and we will have a farewell celebration for him after the noon Mass in the St. Mary Banquet Room. Fr. Fabian, we will all miss you greatly. Your impact on the life of our parishes and school has been tremendous. We pray for your safe travels and transition back home next week!

Next weekend marks the 250th birthday of America with the 4th of July. Our nation was founded on the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all. As we celebrate our freedom on our nation's 250th anniversary, we give thanks to God for endowing us with freedom for excellence - to know, choose, and proclaim truth and goodness, and for giving us our great nation to uphold godly and Christian virtues in public life. 

I am yours in Christ,

Fr. Scott Goodfellow