It’s Summer!

Jun 21

Letter from the Pastor
June 23, 2024

It’s Summer!

Is it really the fourth week of June already? I guess if time flies when you’re having fun I must be having a ball!

Summer officially began this past week. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice, when the North Pole is the closest to the sun, was June 20th at 8:51 PM. As that moment passed and earth continued in its orbital journey round the sun the northern pole began to move away from the sun creating days with less sunlight. The sunlight will continue to decrease until December 21st when at 9:40 AM the northern pole will start to move closer to the sun once again. What an amazing example of the masterful creation God has put before us; with a slight tilt of the earth’s axis, the distance from the sun constantly changes and the four seasons are created.

For us on LBI, the beginning of summer is not as scientific or as exact. It happens more gradually. Memorial Day is always a blockbuster weekend, but as we know, the crowds typically lighten up during the subsequent weeks. It is not really until the high school graduations have passed that our summer kicks into high gear during this fourth week of June, right before the Fourth of July.

At St. Francis, summer is always marked by our Annual Garden Party by the Sea Fashion Show [June 19th,] the Car Raffle [drawing on Oct. 12th,] and The Festival of the Sea. I will share more about the Fashion Show next week. The Car Raffle is our largest fundraiser and is always a great surprise for 5 luck people when they receive that phone call. This year, The Festival of the Sea will take on new life.

Our Festival will be July 2nd until July 6th. For years it was the second week of August but, not unlike the sun, it was obvious that the crowds on LBI had already started to decrease by then. With a new ride and game company, and during the busiest week of the year, it is our hope that this year’s Festival will be an outrageous event of great fun, food, and cheer. Mark your calendars and please join us for our summer celebration.

WE ARE, however, IN NEED OF VOLUNTEERS. If you can help us any time from July 2nd – 6th we would appreciate it. There are volunteer forms at the doors of the churches or you can register online. www.stfrancisparishlbi.org/festivalofthesea

Because it will be a busy week we will have a shuttle service taking people back and forth to the LBI School parking lot in Ship Bottom during the Festival hours. We will also move the 9 AM Daily Mass to St. Thomas of Villanova in Surf City AND to St. Thomas Aquinas in Beach Haven. One final note, there will be NO 5 PM MASS IN BRANT BEACH on July 6th. There will be a 5 PM Mass in all the other churches.

Summer is here! What great fun, but also what a great gift from God that we can continue to celebrate life in such a glorious place like Long Beach Island. May this summer be a great blessing to all of us.

Peace and All Good.