The first reading from the Book of Genesis (18:1-10) and the Gospel according to Luke (10:38-42) reminds me of a story I read years ago in the popular Ann Landers column that appeared in many newspapers. A woman wrote in with the dilemma she faced when her Hispanic gardeners asked her for a drink of water on a particular very hot day. Not knowing what to do, she allowed them to drink from the hose. She wanted to know if she did the right thing.
To a point, she did, however, reflecting on today’s readings, she did not offer any hospitality. In the reading from Genesis, Abraham offered the three strangers passing by water, rest, and food. While Sarah did the cooking, Abraham waited on them while they ate under the tree.
In today’s Gospel, it is Martha who was burdened with serving the meal, while her sister Mary “sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him.” It seems to me that both offered hospitality, since it takes both presents and presence to truly be hospitable.
We who are the Church should first and foremost be a people of hospitality since God is hospitable to us! God welcomes all His children all the time, no matter what. Our response to this divine hospitality is to be hospitable in kind. In other words, PAY IT FORWARD. We can judge our own response to God’s hospitality to us as individuals by how hospitable we are to one another, particularly those sisters and brothers who are most unlike us. We don’t have to tie ourselves up in knots like the woman who wrote to Ann Landers. Just do the kind thing as kindly as you can (I’d like to think that I would have given them a glass and asked if they wanted ice).
And, good people of Sacred Heart Parish, you DO! I often say to our Faith Formation Director, Barbara Ferreris, that one reason our church had so many people participate in the O.C.I.A. process this year is because of how welcoming we are to our visitors here in downtown Tampa, celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and those visitors at the end of each Sunday Mass. The hospitality shown to and how we treat our homeless sisters and brothers that make the front of the church their Sunday home, welcoming them to share coffee and donuts, sets a tone that this church understands what Jesus is asking of us.
So, let us continue to be a welcoming people who form a welcoming parish. God is noticing, and God is blessing all of us.
Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you.” | Philippians 4:9
The national average cost of school supplies per student in 2024 varied between $701 and $875. The National Center for Education Statistics stated in 2021 that more than 90% of elementary and secondary school teachers spend their own money each year to make up for shortfalls not only in classroom supplies, but in food or other necessities for their students, with the National Education Association estimating that expense to be between $500 and $750, a number that is in addition to allotments provided to teachers by their school. Sacred Heart is holding its latest Giving from the Heart drive-through donation event on Saturday, August 9, at the North Campus, from 9 to 11 a.m. to help alleviate some of these burdens for the families, students, and teachers of two diocesan schools: St. Joseph Catholic School & St. Peter Claver Catholic School.
Can’t make it to the North Campus on the day of the drive?
Click the image to access our Amazon Wishlist, and have your donation shipped directly to the parish office!
Volunteers from our Loving Hearts ministry, which regularly collaborates with each of these schools through their “Adopt-A-School” program, will be gathered to receive school supplies ahead of the 2025-26 school year.
Many of you will know that the neighboring St. Peter Claver School (corner of Scott St. and Governor St.) was founded as a mission of the Jesuit Fathers of Sacred Heart in 1893. The school is the oldest continuously operating historically black grade school in Florida. The school remains committed to providing a quality education in a safe and nurturing environment for preschoolers through eighth grade in a microschool setting, with deliberately small class sizes to maximize instructional attention.
St. Joseph Catholic School in West Tampa, near McFarlane Park and only a few blocks south of Raymond James Stadium, was founded just a few years after St. Peter Claver School (1896) by the Diocese of St. Augustine, with a longstanding connection to the Salesian Sisters. Many of the families whose children attend St. Joseph’s are underserved in our community and need assistance with basic needs.
We want to supply the teachers, students, and families of both St. Peter Claver and St Joseph Schools with the materials they need to be successful from day one of this coming school year. As always, your generosity is greatly appreciated.
In today’s Gospel, a scholar of the law asks Jesus a deeply human question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus, as he often does, turns the question back to the man—and through him, to us. “What is written in the law?” We already know the answer, to love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.
But here’s the twist, the scholar wants to justify himself, so he asks, “And who is my neighbor?” It’s not just a question—it’s a test. It’s also something we sometimes ask ourselves, consciously or not, when love becomes inconvenient. Jesus responds with one of the most famous parables in all of Scripture: the story of the Good Samaritan. And in it, he flips every expectation on its head.
In the first reading this Sunday, Moses reminds the people that God’s command is not far off. “It is something very near to you… already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.” Love of God and neighbor is not a distant theological theory—it is already embedded deep within us.
We often don’t need to be taught what to do; we need the grace and courage to do it. The priest and Levite in the parable knew the law—but they walked by. The Samaritan, despised and outcast, acted in mercy.
St. Paul lifts our eyes to Christ, “the image of the invisible God… in him all things hold together.” This passage from Colossians reminds us who Jesus is—not just a teacher of morality, but the divine Son who reconciles all things to himself. And here’s the mystery: this cosmic Christ, who holds the universe together, is the same one who stoops down to care for the wounded and forgotten. The Samaritan in the parable can be seen as an image of Christ himself—an outsider, moved with compassion, who tends to our wounds at great personal cost.
The parable forces us to confront some uncomfortable truths. The priest and Levite may have had religious reasons to avoid touching the man—ritual purity, safety, time constraints. But love isn’t about finding excuse- s; it’s about crossing the road.
Jesus chooses a Samaritan—a person considered impure and untrustworthy by the Jews—as the hero of the story. He challenges our assumptions of who is “in” and who is “out,” who is “worthy” of our love.
“Who is my neighbor?” is no longer the right question. Jesus flips it: “Which of these was neighbor to the man?” In other words, it’s not about defining the boundaries of love—it’s about becoming a neighbor. So the question for us becomes ‘how is Jesus calling us to cross the road?’
We cannot deny that God has written his law on our hearts. Christ has shown us what that love looks like. Now we are called to do likewise. Let us go and be neighbors—not only to those like us, but especially to those who are not.
Look, and really see the people around you. Stop, even for a moment, and give a kind word, a small gesture, or make a call. Bind wounds, with mercy, with time, and with love. The question isn’t “Who is my neighbor?” but rather, “How can I be a neighbor?” When you see someone lying by life’s roadside, remember that Jesus is calling us to cross the road and stop. Perhaps that’s why the chicken crossed the road as well!
Here at Sacred Heart we do a wonderful job in caring for and recognizing by name many of our homeless brothers and sisters who gather at the church each Sunday. Its an act of mercy we can all be proud of. May we have the courage and grace to be kind to all we meet. Amen.
As I mentioned in my letter to you all last month, I am using this space over the coming months to highlight some of our parish ministries and the incredible work that they do week in and week out. Last month, we spotlighted our parish Gift Store, and this month I would like to focus on our St Vincent de Paul Society. You see them twice a month after the Masses with their collection baskets by the church doors, but there is so much more to this ministry you may not see.
Ralph Stoddard, president of the Sacred Heart Conference of the Society gives us a sample here of how the ministry works:
“A family of four; mom, dad, a six-year-old and six-month-old had moved to Tampa last year to follow a very good job, but the company closed, and the father was out of work for three months during which time they not only got behind in rent, but had to go to court and were ordered out. The deputy that came to evict them told them kindly but firmly that they had to be out in five days or she would be back with a crew to move their belongings to the street. They were lucky to find another place, and he had found work and had some money, but even that with whatever they could borrow was not enough to pay the first and last month’s rent and security deposit.
“They were close, but still short, and out of time. They had called every social services agency they could think of, but couldn’t even get an appointment in time. A friend told them a Catholic church downtown might be able to help so they said a little prayer and called our help line. “Three days later, our Vincentian team met with the family and then made arrangements directly with the landlord. As we are not a service agency but a ministry we talked and prayed with the family and they were grateful , which was rewarding for us and as Dad was a thoughtful man, made me promise that I would thank the people who gave the money, the parishioners of Sacred Heart and so on that family’s behalf, I say THANK YOU!
Stoddard, right, alongside his fellow Vincentians at our most recent Giving from the Heart drive.
“Locally we are known as the Sacred Heart Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Our conference is the Florida West Coast’s second oldest, founded on April 22, 1932. We are just a small part of the international St. Vincent de Paul Society which was founded in Paris in 1833, one of the oldest and best known of all the Catholic Charities. Formally, we are a state registered non- profit corporation and registered with the IRS so contributions are tax deductible.
“Our vision is simply what you’d read from Matthew’s 25th chapter: For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me… | Matthew 25:35-36
We consider our mission to be a network of friends, inspired by Gospel values, growing in holiness and building a more just world through personal relationships with and service to people in need.
What Vincentian Volunteers Do:
Confidentially answer calls for help, by phone and through home visits, to discern legitimate, qualified requests
Document accountability when one-time financial assistance with basic necessities is provided
Provide referrals to government and private support services
Listen to and comfort the needy through prayer and encouragement
“The sum total of our tangible corporate assets are a handful of brochures, four collection baskets and a small bank account to deposit donations and pay for clients’ needs. From that modest system, you, the parishioners of Sacred Heart, were able to pay over $63,000 across 2024, helping 132 families, including 176 children and 325 individuals, stay sheltered and keep the utilities on. We have only a few hundred dollars in administrative expenses annually, mostly dues. The sum total of our most valuable assets are our 22 volunteers and of course, you, Father Steve’s beloved ‘Saints of God.’
“If you are interested in helping or just learning more, just dial the help line, (813)-229-1595, ext. 302), follow the prompts, give us your name and number and just say “call me, I’d like to learn more” or “I’d like to help,” and someone will call you back. Thank you, and God bless you all.”
Quotes from SVdP volunteers:
“As members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, we’re blessed with the opportunity to walk alongside our neighbors in need, offering compassion, dignity, and respect—no matter their background or beliefs. Through simple, person-to-person outreach, we do our best to bring hope, share God’s love, and live out the heart of our Catholic faith.” | Gaile & Noel Rametta
“Volunteering with St. Vincent de Paul provides the unique privilege of helping our needy neighbors in a direct and meaningful way. It is a blessing to be associated with a group of parishioners who want to make a difference in the lives of others.” | Susan Coppin
Miranda, right, spent the majority of his career as an engineer and project manager before a vocational switch to teaching these last 12 years.
Changing of the Guard:
This past week, we formally welcomed Tony Miranda to our parish staff as the new Business Operations Manager. Tony has been a parishioner of Sacred Heart since 2018, and is actively involved in several ministries, including Hands of Hope, our Knights of Columbus Council #12110, our Parish Outreach Committee and Advisory Board, and as an usher.
Tony was our parish’s 2023 recipient of the St. Jude Medal, given each year in the Diocese of St. Petersburg as a way to recognize those persons showing distinguished and outstanding service to their parish. Tony is replacing Larry Cabrera, who will be retiring at the end of this month. Larry started working here at Sacred Heart more than 37 years ago, in January, 1988, while being a parishioner for more than 53 years. The friars and staff are currently organizing ways that parishioners can thank Larry for his service to the parish. We will announce those details very soon.
Tony is coming onboard prepared. He has already been part of the conversation about the North Campus renovations, and has been added to our Maintenance and Finance committees. He will be working hand-in-hand with Larry for the next month.
