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 29, 2025

Dear Parishioners,

I thank all the parish for the prayers and support that I and my family have received from you these past several days. My brother Kevin passed away unexpectedly on June 17 and we offered his funeral Mass at St. Anne’s on Saturday of last weekend. All through the wake and funeral and during this past week, parishioners have reached out with messages of condolences, prayers, and Mass intentions. Along with my family, I am deeply grateful.

Although Kevin was seriously ill with various ailments, he was in a physical rehabilitation facility and we hoped for a recovery. He did face additional surgeries later in the summer. We were surprised that he passed away that Tuesday evening. Kevin was an active parishioner at St. Gertrude’s, Bayville; his family chose to have the funeral here.

Kevin is my second brother to pass away during my time at St. Anne’s. My brother John died in September 2013 and had his funeral Mass here. At both times, St. Anne’s parishioners have been so very supportive and caring. Again and again, I realize and am so very grateful that I am here at St. Anne’s Parish. This is truly home for me and I am abundantly blessed to serve as a priest in this community. Thank you for everything.

SOLEMNITY OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES

As has been the case these past several Sundays, this Sunday we gather for a special Solemnity, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. Solemnities are the highest ranking days of celebration on the Church calendar. So when a Solemnity falls on a Sunday, the Church celebrates the Mass of the Solemnity in favor of the usual Sunday observance,

An introduction to today’s celebration comes from the Daily Roman Missal.

“Saints Peter and Paul are the principal Pillars of the Church founded by Christ. St. Peter was chosen by Christ to be his first Vicar on earth; he was endowed with the power of the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and given the role of Shepherd of Christ’s flock. In St. Peter and his successors, there is a visible sign of unity and communion in faith and charity. Divine grace led St. Peter to profess Christ’s divinity. He suffered martyrdom under Nero about AD 64 and is buried at the hill of the Vatican.

“St. Paul was chosen to from part of the College of Apostles by Christ himself after his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus. Selected to bring Christ’s name to all peoples, he was a great missionary advocate of pagans, and Apostle of the Gentiles. He was beheaded in the Tre Fontane along the Via Ostiense and buried nearby.”

Today’s celebration is a wonderful reminder to us of the gift to the Church of our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. Pope Leo combines the leadership gift given to Peter with the missionary spirit of Paul. The first pope to be born in the United States, his service to the Church of more than 40 years as a priest of the Augustinian Order, serving in three continents these past 40 years, suggests to us he is truly an international person. Under the inspiration of St. Paul, Pope Leo gave many years serving as an Augustinian missionary in Peru. His call to be a superior of the Augustinian, a diocesan bishop in Peru, and his service as a Cardinal to Pope Francis made clear that like Peter, he has received the gift of leadership. His Augustinian life tells us of his commitment to truth and understanding God’s Word. We are blessed to receive Pope Leo as the leader of our Church and exemplar of the essential quality of the Church to be missionary in its work to evangelize and spread the gospel.

His first weeks as Holy Father make clear that Pope Leo holds dear the importance of communion and unity in the Church. It seems at every opportunity the Holy Father reminds us of the call to be responsive to Jesus’ prayer “That they all may be one.” As we grow as a faith community, the global church, the diocesan church and we as a parish, may we honor today’s solemnity of Peter and Paul, and heed the call of Pope Leo, a successor to Peter with the missionary spirit of St. Paul to be one community of faith.

Have a peace-filled week! Pray for peace!

Fr. Tom

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