News - July 2022 RSS Feed

We have recently held our Primary Elections. It may be a few weeks until all the ballots are counted and we learn how all the candidates will be in the General Election to be held in November. But in this column I want to talk about the Catholic Impact in District 19 where St. Francis of Assisi and five other Catholic parishes are located. First of all you may wonder what the six parishes in District 19 are. They are Our Lady of Grace in Silver Spring, Shrine of St. Jude in Rockville, St. Andrew the Apostle in Silver Spring, St. Patrick in Rockville, San Andrés Mission in Silver Spring, and, of course, St. Francis of Assisi in Derwood. The oldest parish in District 19 is the Shrine of St. Jude in Rockville (founded in 1956). The most recent parish is probably Our Lady of Grace in Silver Spring (founded in 1983). There are four Catholic Schools in District 19: St. Andrew the Apostle Early Learning Center, St. Andrew the Apostle School, St. Jude Regional School, and St. Patrick’s Catholic School. We are a supporting parish for St. Jude Regional School which was founded in 1956 (the same year as the parish).

The deacons here usually preach once a month. On Sunday, July 17, 2022, I had the opportunity to hear all three deacons preach at different Masses. All three homilies were excellent! Deacon Jim Datovech made three points about prayer in the course of his homily on July 17th. I want to talk about his second point about prayer: God may or may not give us what we ask for, but he will always give us what we need.

Father Grzegorz Okulewicz, our recently ordained and newly appointed Parochial Vicar, arrived here on Wednesday, July 7, 2022. He left on Saturday, July 9, 2022 for the Holy Land where he is serving as one of many priest chaplains for a youth discernment pilgrimage sponsored by the Neocatechumenal Way, of which he is a member. I think that it might be good to give you some background on the Neocatechumenal Way and the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Hyattsville, Maryland. You can read a bit about his vocation story in an article written by Mark Zimmerman in the June 18, 2022 issue of the Catholic Standard. I am confident he will tell us more about himself and his vocational journey in the weeks and months to come.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington recently released a Diocesan Synthesis Report now that the Archdiocesan Phase of the 2021-2023 Synod convoked by Pope Francis is finished. I want to discuss an item located toward the end of the document. This is a discussion on how the Spirit is guiding this local church on the path of synodality.