35 Dartmouth Street, Garden City, New York 11530 - (516) 352-5904
How Do I?

Fr. Tom’s Letters

 

Each week Fr. Tom writes a letter to parishioners in our bulletin.  Every letter is comprehensive, including current information about the Parish, an explanation of Scripture for that Sunday, and an invitation to become more engaged in the life of the parish.

 

 

 

 

June 16, 2019

Dear Parishioners,

Many of us have heard the expression that when given a lemon we have the opportunity to make lemonade. Last Monday the heavy rains spoiled our plans for the golf outing and we had to postpone. The chairpersons did a great job in assessing the weather and being in contact with the Garden City Country Club. Wisely, they cancelled the festivities on Sunday evening because of the negative forecast. This allowed tennis players and golfers to know of the cancellation on Sunday night and make other adjustments for Monday. There was no sitting and waiting on Monday for four hours and then be told “no golf today.”

Moving quickly the chairpersons looked to make lemonade. Speedily, they agreed to a rain date with the club for Monday, September 16. That is the Monday after Saturday, September 14’s Spirit Day. So we will have a Spirit Weekend Golf and Tennis Classic on Monday, September 16. Mark your calendar. We still have room for about 30 additional golfers. Thank you Christine Johnson and Tina Broderick for all your hard work and patience. We all look forward to the September 14-16 Spirit Weekend.

ANNIVERSARY JULY 1 BUS TRIP

On the first day of each month we have been celebrating our 90th Anniversary Year. This July 1, a Monday, we are offering a trip to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Island in Eastport. The shrine, operated by the Montfort Fathers has become a special place  of prayer and devotion for many Long Islanders. Mass and a Rosary Walk will be included in the day. If you want to join other parishioners for this excursion, you will find a registration form in the bulletin. Please indicate your interest by June 24 so that appropriate arrangements may be made for the correct size coach bus.

GRADUATIONS

Congratulations to our most recent graduates of St. Anne’s Parish School. 55 members of the Class of 2019 gathered with families, faculty, and parish staff on Thursday evening Awards Night and Saturday noon Mass and graduation. We are very proud of our graduates. We hope that we continue to see them regularly at Sunday Mass. We invite them to share in various parish ministries such as Sunday night Youth Ministry, Faith Formation catechists, liturgical ministries, and Parish Social Ministry. A wonderful strength of our parish is our young families and we hope that among the many fruits of Catholic elementary education is that these young families continue to be a dynamic part of the parish, beginning with regular Sunday Mass attendance. I am confident they will.

SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

This Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity is a memorable one for me. It is the Sunday on which I celebrated my First Mass of Thanksgiving as a newly ordained priest on May 26, 1991 at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, West Hempstead. It was an extremely hot Memorial Day weekend with temperatures in the 90’s. Still, it was a joyous and very happy time for my entire family. So much has happened in the 28 years since that day.

The readings of today have much to say to us. In that first reading, Proverbs speaks of the power of God as the creator of the heavens and earth. Quickly following that reflection of wisdom, she then speaks of playfulness before God. Playfulness suggests joy, freedom, and spontaneity. Drawing close to God still brings us those gifts and more. Bette Midler was a great singer but a poor theologian. Our God is not a God of distance. We can draw ever close to God.

The middle reading comes from St. Paul. Paul speaks of affliction, endurance, character and hope. For Paul, they are all related. They are all held together by love, the love of the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. We always need to keep ourselves up to that kind of love, the love poured out by the Holy Spirit. We want to be able to identify that love.

The gospel again gives us the privilege of hearing Jesus speak to his disciples at the Last Supper. His themes are many. He speaks of the father, the Spirit and his relationship with them. He speaks of truth. In this age of people who fool around with the truth, who tell untruths, who hide truth, Jesus reminds us that truth must be an essential element of our relationship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

FATHER’S DAY

Today we honor all those who are dads. We witness all the energy and love of young dads raising families. We cherish the wisdom of dads who provide great example. We treasure the joy of grandfathers. We give thanks for godfathers. We pray for our deceased fathers in eternal life. We can enroll all fathers in the Fathers Day Novena of Masses.

Happy Father’s day to all! Peace be with you!

Fr. Tom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The letters are available in PDF and require Adobe Reader to view.  If you do not have Adobe Reader, you can download it for FREE by clicking the graphic to the right.