It could be argued that our celebration of Pentecost is somewhat anticlimactic. After 40 days of preparation for Easter and 50 days of celebrating Easter itself, and with significant attention paid to the Ascension, we get to Pentecost, and then, poof, it’s over. It’s extended a little bit by the fact that we now have the memorial of Mary, the mother of the church the day after Pentecost. That said, we used to have an entire octave in which to celebrate the Holy Spirit, so one might feel as though the Holy Spirit is given the short shrift. Click on title for full column.

The strangest things we do in life generally need to be traced back to their origins in order to make sense. At some point in time a parent will inevitably look up and think something along the lines of “Why am I wrist deep in someone else’s poop?” or “Why am I watching these children play a sport I genuinely hate when they are not even remotely good at it?” and the answers only make sense when contextualized within the entirety of one’s vocation. I was made for love, God called me to this vocation, I loved this other person, and everything I do in the context of this family is because I love them, and I am genuinely interested in their human flourishing even more than I am invested in my own. Without that love, none of it really makes sense, but with that love, all of it and then some can be joyfully accepted and even embraced. People might not think of these things on the day of their wedding, but in God’s providence, we eventually are stretched and grow in love by the grace of God. Click on title for full column.

Meet Fr. Christian Cone-Lombarte Dear parishioners, I am very excited to begin ministering at the Queen of Apostles Family of Parishes in July! I have been ordained for four years (I am a classmate of Fr. Stegbauer) and have had two assignments thus far. I first served as vicar at a family of four parishes in Fort Recovery for two years and am currently finishing out my second year as vicar at St. Ignatius of Loyola. Click on title for full column.

This weekend’s Gospel is one of the few extended scripture passages that I have committed entirely to memory, and it is solely because it is frequently used at funerals. With complete and total confidence at funerals I can look up and recite John 14:1-6 while making eye contact with the entire congregation because I have read or heard it at least three hundred times. I don’t know if it gives the family comfort or not, or if it just makes them feel like I’m making it up, but it certainly allows me to pray with the text rather than feel like I’m reading it. That said, I almost never expressly preach on it at funerals, as there are always other things to be covered, and it serves as more of a backdrop to the grief (and hope) of the family. So, with that in mind, this column is a touch of what I think every time this Gospel is proclaimed during the funeral rites of a parishioner or a friend.