Msgr. Joseph R. Schwaegel died July 13 at St. Paul’s Home in Belleville. He was 79.

Prayer is one of several major themes of Luke’s Gospel and is the subject of this Sunday’s Gospel. Luke begins, “Jesus was praying in a certain place … .”

While elementary school students are still enjoying their summer vacations, new Catholic school principals began their first days on the job July 1, and they are anxious to move forward with their plans for the new school year that begins in mid-August in most cases.