Our sympathy to Deacon Scott & Kathy Steffen, whose mother died earlier this month. Phyllis lived to be 89 and was active right up to her death, volunteering for the church at St. Lawrence (Carroll), and with the community. Eternal rest grant onto Phyllis O Lord. Beginning next week our parish office in Boone will be closed through the noon hour. If you need something from the parish office during that hour please call ahead and we will be most happy to help you, and accommodate your schedule. Thank you for your understanding. Our bulletin this week will contain information for the next two weeks allowing Deanna to enjoy her family vacation. Our next bulletin will be available the first weekend in August. Last weekend the Diocesan Ministry 2025 Process combined several more parishes with the retirement of four priests and no ordinations. Every parishioner matters regardless of how small or large a certain parish may be, and our outreach becomes more and more difficult as we return to a bit of normalcy following the effects of the ‘pandemic.’ Certainly, we each have an opinion about our diocesan plan and how to proceed into the future, protecting our parishes and remaining a vital church for young and old alike. I could offer an easy answer or two, as has been voiced by so many others who care about the protection and vitality of our rural parishes, and the Sacramental life thereof. Knowing that the diocesan plan includes possible changes to our three churches in the future we can only concentrate on the faith, our parishioners and outreach we presently share here in Boone County. We cannot control all the external circumstances affecting our parish and personal lives, but we can utilize our faith and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to guide our participation, our hope and our outreach as Catholic-Christians. We have our challenges but so too the many blessings bestowed on us within our three churches and communities. “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” (Corrie ten Boom, Christian who safeguarded Jews during WWII) “People kept coming and going in great numbers.” As the passage from this Sunday’s gospel reading indicates, larger and larger crowds were attracted to Jesus’ teachings and the outreach of his disciples. In America we are fixated to numbers, stats—and how many or how great the amount. Rarely does such reveal the whole story or the ultimate purpose or meaning. Was ‘grace’ no less present as Jesus sat with Mary and Martha only, or at Matthew’s home with the few disciples and guests as was present in the midst of the “great numbers” coming to meet Jesus in Mark’s gospel reading? Are we more or less viable because of certain statistics? As someone shared, “Numbers do not feel. Do not bleed or weep or hope. They do not know bravery or sacrifice. Love and allegiance. At the very apex of callousness you will find only ones and zeros. We will always desire greater ‘numbers’ in our pews; however, may we feel the grace present in the Eucharist we share and within our hospitality offered to those who come through our church doors. On the 22nd, this coming Thursday, our Church commemorates the feast day of St. Mary Magdalene. A revered saint with a misjudged past. Though she was depicted as a prostitute, living an immoral life until her conversion, such was heresy, lacking any such evidence. Mary of Magdala was healed of evil spirits and infirmities according to the account in Luke 8, (and would later be the first to witness the risen Christ). Her feast day reminds us to tread cautiously in how we perceive or judge another person based on rumors or our own perception; thus risking an injustice and diminishing the very grace of the Eucharist we share. God Bless, Fr. Tim FYI: “The thing you have to be prepared for is that other people don't always dream your dream.” (Linda Ronstadt, a favorite musician who just turned 65)