First, many thanks ahead of time for your generous response to the annual mission appeal supporting the Church in the Diocese of Damongo in Ghana.
It is hard to believe that Peter Randolph will have completed his internship this Friday, August 2nd. It has been a great blessing having him here with us. I asked him to share some of his experiences with us.
“I am so grateful to the Father for assigning me to your parishes. I have been richly blessed by staying with you this summer, and I will miss being here. While there has been an abundance of blessings during my summer, I will reflect here on just one.
The Father has poured out many graces upon me during pilgrimages in the past, and I was happy to participate in the family pilgrimage to Our Lady of Consolation in Carey, Ohio. I have been to the Basilica a few times before, but was excited to return because they have many relics of saints there, and I have strong devotion to the saints. We celebrated Mass in the original, small church which was eventually replaced by the larger basilica. At the Mass, the Lord reminded me that He wants me to ask great things of Him, because He loves me. While I have known this for some time, I realized that I had settled for asking only for small things of Him, and I took encouragement at His desire to do great things for me. After lunch, we had a tour of the basilica itself, which is gorgeous (I highly recommend visiting if you have a chance), and I was struck by two pieces of art.
First, an image that contained the letters “IC XC NIKA,” which stands for the Greek phrase, “Jesus Christ Conquers.” I was reminded that Jesus always, always conquers. He always
overcomes evil, no matter how dark or hopeless things seem to be. Second, the ceiling had an image of Mary touching her heart with one hand and touching the hem of Jesus’ robe with the other. It depicted for me Mary’s tender heart which has both confident faith in her Son and a place for our cares and concerns, which she immediately entrusts to Jesus. The high point for me, however, was praying with the relics. They had mostly first-class relics, which are pieces of hair, bone, or blood, of various saints. I found the relics of several saints to whom I have a special devotion, especially St. Peter, St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), St. Bonaventure, and St. Blaise. Whenever I come across a relic of a saint to whom I am devoted, I feel like they have found me and want me to know that they are present to me, so it was special to see so many saints that I know. I had a while to sit and pray with the relics, asking for the saints’ intercession for a number of intentions. I love to intercede, so it was a gift to be with these saints and intercede for people that I know.
One last major blessing from the pilgrimage was simply being with all of the families who came with us. Whether it was the car ride, Mass, touring, or praying, it was a joy to be with the families of these parishes. You all, whether you attended the pilgrimage or not, have been such a blessing to me. Please continue to pray for me as I continue my journey of seminary and know that I will pray for you. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
Please come this Friday evening, August 2nd, to our annual parish family picnic with food and games for everyone. I know there is a water bucket game that will be soaking me many times! It will be at St. Mary on the Lake from 5-7pm.
God Bless,
Fr. Todd
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