July 20, 2020
Click on video above: Pastor's Corner - July 19, 2020
David Brooks at Washington National Cathedral
David Brooks became an Op-Ed columnist for  The New York Times  in September 2003. He is currently a commentator on  PBS NewsHour , NPR’s  All Things Considered , and NBC’s  Meet the Press . READ MORE
Click on video to view: "July 5, 2020: Sunday Sermon
by David Brooks at Washington National Cathedral"
Click on image above to enlarge picture.
Gospel Reflection
Editor's Note: This weekend's Gospel reading will be Matthew 13:44-52, a passage comparing the Kingdom of God/Heaven to a hidden treasure and a pearl of great price. Enjoy!
In chapter 13 of his gospel account, Matthew includes seven parables, one after another, focused on the kingdom of God. We’ve reached the end of this section, where Jesus leaves the crowds and speaks to his disciples in private. Today, we will consider three parables: the hidden treasure, the pearl of great value, and the net.

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure – Matthew 13:44

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Here we have a simple parable. A man finds a treasure in a field, covers it up, sells all he has, and buys the field, buying also the treasure within. Simple though it is, this parable raises many questions. Why would someone bury treasure in a field? When he found it, was the man ethical in covering and then purchasing the field? What does the treasure represent? Interpretations have varied throughout church history. And while those are important things to consider, I’d like to summarize the answers quickly so that we can consider what I believe to be the real power of the parable. READ MORE
Upcoming Events...

Tuesday, July 21
7:00 PM - ZOOM




Thursday, July 30
10 AM - ZOOM


Tuesday, August 11
6:30 PM - ZOOM


Thursday, August 13
6:30 PM - ZOOM


Worship, Offerings, and Prayer
HOW TO GIVE   
How to contribute when we are not gathering together during this season.

POOR BOX 
This weekend's Poor Box support goes to help Vulnerable Families in Crisis
PRAYER LIST
A list of those who have been added to our weekly prayer list..

ROSARY
After online mass at 9:30 AM every Sunday until quarantine is over.

 MASS MUSIC  
Attached is the listing for music selections at next Sunday's Mass.

No listing until
singing permitted
In the Media
Parishioners 'show up' for racial justice work
Anice Chenault, a parishioner of St. William Catholic Church in Louisville, and son Justice participate at a family-friendly protest organized by Mama's Hip, a parenting co-op, and Louisville Showing up for Racial Justice. Justice's sign says "Plese (Police) have to End. BLM"; Chenault's says "Racism has the power to destroy us all." (Photo provided by Anice Chenault)


The police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd that sparked massive actions across the U.S. this summer "felt personal" to Louisville, Kentucky, organizer and  St. William   parishioner Anice Chenault.

Anice is white and Arab, married to a Black man, and has a mixed-race son. She said the killings exacerbated the feeling she has every morning that when her husband, and any other person of color, gets up, they take their life into their own hands.

In late May, Chenault joined the Louisville  Showing up for Racial Justice (SURJ)  chapter's actions. The group's ongoing "Freedom Friday" car caravan to release people in jail and detention facilities at risk of COVID-19, transformed into a call for police accountability and justice for 26-year-old Taylor, a Black woman killed by police in her Louisville home. READ MORE
A group of children near the White House in Washington hold up their fists in front of a Black Lives Matter sign June 7, 2020. (CNS photo/Joshua Roberts, Reuters)

Tone-Deaf & Defensive
The Church Should Listen to Black Lives Matter
July 15, 2020

Protests against police violence and culture-war battles over the toppling of monuments that honor white supremacists underscore the nation’s ongoing reckoning with racism. A sizable number of Catholic advocates, priests, and women religious are active in mobilization efforts to address systemic racism, and some visibly support Black Lives Matter. Even a few bishops have publicly backed the movement. But a growing number of conservative Catholics are speaking out against BLM, arguing that its positions on LGBTQ issues, gender, and abortion mean Catholics should not support the organization.

Few have gone to the extremes that Indiana priest Ted Rothrock did in calling BLM activists “maggots and parasites” on his parish website. “They are wolves in sheep’s clothing, masked thieves and bandits, seeking only to devour the life of the poor and profit from the fear of others,” he wrote in a now-deleted post. Rothrock himself has since been suspended from public ministry by his bishop. Even so, a predominately white hierarchy continues to show tone-deafness and unnecessary defensiveness in criticizing BLM, which is one of the most effective racial-justice movements in decades.  READ MORE