A Father's Day Message from the Pastor

Jesus Is Lord! 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It was 24 years ago this Father’s Day weekend, that I first arrived at Saint Mary’s (the first time) as a newly ordained priest. It is hard to believe that it is 24 years; in my mind it just seems so recent, yet the calendar tells me otherwise. I considered it a great blessing to have this long connection with Saint Mary Parish. More than half my priesthood (13 years) has been here at Saint Mary’s. Never would I have thought 24 years ago that I’d one day have the privilege of serving this community as pastor. I cherish the many friends, who I now consider family that I have made here from the very beginning of my priesthood, and all the new friends since I returned to St. Mary’s.

In seminary our homiletic professor encouraged my class to make sure our first homily in our new parishes be presented well. He said you want to make a good first impression as a preacher. So my first homily on that Father’s day weekend in 1996 in Saint Mary Chapel, focused on surrendering our lives to Jesus. Afterward, a young father came up to me and said, “Father, can you help me, I need to know more about Jesus.” At first I thought, I guess it must have been a good first homily. Then he said, my six year old son brought me breakfast in bed, wishes me a Happy Father’s Day and said, “Dad, I want to be just like you.” The young father, said to himself, “If my son wants to be like me, I need to be more like Jesus.” Wow! A great revelation for Father’s Day!

This Father’s Day all the Masses at our parish will be offered up for the intentions of the fathers of our parish, both living and deceased. There is a group of men from our men’s ministry, That Man Is You! (TMIY!) I would like to honor in a special way this Father’s Day. Since the pandemic, these men have been meeting daily (98 straight days) on Webex/Zoom to pray the Rosary together for the end of the coronavirus, healing of the sick, a vaccine, our country, their wives, children, extended famiy and our parish and school. These are a band of brothers that really “stepped up” during the pandemic as true spiritual leaders for their families and our parish. As pastor, I am grateful to God for these men and their witness and faithfulness. May the Lord bless them abundantly this Father’s Day.

TMIY! mission is to form men after God’s own heart. In attending TMIY! men learn how to be godly husbands, fathers, and sons. They learn what it means to be a brother in Christ in the true biblical sense. They learn their responsibility in leading their families to Heaven. On this Father’s Day, I want to encourage all men of the parish to consider attending That Man is You! when the new semester begins in September. For more information about TMIY!, please email Craig Palmer at cpalmer@stmaryes.org or Bill Ross at billross5@gmail.com.

Happy Father’s Day!

In Jesus and Mary,

Father Jeff Kegley
Pastor