I hope you felt a little spark in yourself this past week. I was on retreat at Christ the King, a Passionist retreat center in Citrus Heights near Sacramento and I prayed for you regularly. I was on what is called a directed retreat, meaning that I met each day with a spiritual director with whom I shared what was going on in my life and in my prayer. I was blest to have the sister who had been my director for years when she had lived in the Bay Area, so she already knew me well. The first evening we were to consider for ourselves Jesus’ question to the two blind men: “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mt. 20.33) The next morning when she asked me how I responded to Jesus’ question, I said that I wanted to understand what I was to learn from all the losses I’ve experienced recently. (As you know, I’ve had a lot of losses in the two years I’ve been here at St. Robert’s: cleaning out and selling my family home, clearing out and selling my community home (motherhouse) in Redwood City, and, most recently, the death of my Mom.) I knew that somehow God was in the depression I was experiencing. Being of Irish and German descent, I’m not great at dealing with my feelings. The bottled-up, pressed down emotions, Sr. Marcella reminded me, contributed to the flatness and lack of energy I was aware of. She invited me to consciously take God’s love and presence with me as I plumbed the depth of these feelings. As I did, I experienced sadness and some tears and that God was fine with my feeling this way. Ultimately, I felt a sense of peace and freedom. I know that there may be times when I feel the emptiness again, but hopefully, I’ll enter into it this time, with God’s grace, and let the Spirit help me to deal with it.

Calling all St. Roberts Parishioners 17 years and older. Do you know that by donating a pint of blood you can help save 3 lives? 500 pints of blood are needed daily to serve patient needs in 40 Bay Area hospitals. St. Roberts Parish is hosting a blood drive on Sunday, July 24th from 8:30 am to 1:30 p.m. Our goal for the drive is 30 pints of blood.

Please sign up in the vestibule of the church.

As a Parish Community

We are in need of canned food donations. At this time, our food supply is very low and we could use your help with the following:

Canned fruits and vegetables,
jams and peanut butter,
pasta and pasta jar sauce
and canned meats

Please bring these items to the wooden bin in the vestibule of the church or the rectory. Thank you for your continued support in helping to feed, both spiritually and nutritionally those in need.

ALSO

Our St. Vincent de Paul Conference paid for five youngsters to attend CYO camp this year. Our Conference paid $250 per child, for a total of $1,250. Thank you very much for the recent 5th Sunday Second Collection.

Volunteers are needed for all the above events except Sunday, August 28th. Call or email Father Bruce if you can help on any of these days.

As is the case with anything we do frequently, we can easily lose track of the meaning beneath various parts of the Eucharist. I’d like to invite us to consider that part called the preparation of the gifts (formerly called the offertory). If you pay attention to the song we sing, it usually has something to do with our offering ourselves for Christ’s mission. “Christ Be Our Light” which we sang at most of the Masses last weekend, is clear: “Make us your bread, broken for others, shared until all are fed.” In addition to the bread and wine to be changed into the Lord’s Body and Blood, we are offering ourselves, with all the joys and sorrows of the week, to be changed into his Body and Blood.

In the early Church, people brought up the wine and the loaves of bread to be used. They also brought the first fruits of their work: the newborn animals, the first sheaf of wheat, the first olives. You can imagine what it would be like if we brought up the first printed circuit board or lesson plan or legal document or porcelain crown! So, instead we bring up money, an easier to handle “fruit” of our work. The collection symbolizes us, the hours we’ve worked to earn it and our commitment to the work of the Church in our parish, done by the staff whose salaries the collection pays and in the buildings whose repair and upkeep are covered by your donation. This is why the collection basket is placed in front of the altar, to help us make the connection with the other offerings of bread and wine placed on the altar. Let us be mindful of the words we sing and the actions we do as we unite ourselves to Jesus’ sacrifice in this sacred meal.

You are invited
Recital of Sacred music
Sunday, August 7th at 2:30 p.m.
at St. Roberts church.

Sopranos Rachel Carter and Natalie Barrens,
with Pianist Kerry Leyden,
will be performing

Music includes
classical and traditional hymns and spirituals.