By Corey Brock / MLB.com | @FollowThePadres | September 13th, 2015

SAN FRANCISCO -- As a reward for hitting his first Major League home run Sunday, Padres rookie center fielder Travis Jankowski certainly got the cold shoulder.

At the very least, he got the silent treatment and then a seat on the bench during the team's 10-3 loss to the Giants at AT&T Park, as San Francisco finished a three-game sweep of the Padres.

Jankowski, promoted from Triple-A El Paso on Aug. 19, lifted a second-inning pitch from Giants pitcher Mike Leake into the right-field seats, which gave the Padres a 3-0 lead and amounted to their last highlight of the day.

"I wasn't thinking it was gone off the bat. When I got to second base, the umpire said it was a home run, I thought, 'Oh, that's cool.' It was a new feeling," Jankowski said.

It was all downhill from there, as the Giants scored four runs in the bottom of the second inning and then coasted to victory in a series where they outscored the Padres, 27-4.

But about that home run ...

Save paper. Save time. And make your gifts work harder than ever for our parish by enrolling in our Online Giving program.  When you give online, your gift will be transferred conveniently and securely from your bank account or credit card, directly to the church.  

Access your account any time you like—you’re in complete control. You can change or stop your contributions at any time. If you would prefer to not touch the computer, just give us a call and we will happily manage everything for you.

Online Giving information is here

Last week I spoke about the Church’s insistence that at Mass we participate fully, consciously and actively. Why do we do this? Because this is our greatest act of public worship. We need to be engaged in what we do at Mass. In this age of short attention spans, being fully attentive for an hour at Mass is not easy. I think there is a reason we call Christian worship “liturgy”. The word “liturgy” literally means “the work of the people.” In its original secular use, it referred to public works done for the good of the people and by the people - the building of bridges and roads and public facilities. In its religious use, it means the hard work of coming together to offer praise and thanksgiving to God our Father through Jesus our Lord united in the Holy Spirit. And it is hard work! To listen attentively to the readings when your inclination is to let your mind wander is not easy. To become one with others in gesture and response is not easy. To resist the desire to do our own thing and to allow the Church to show us the way of Christian worship is not easy. In today’s world, the question often is “what is in it for me?” When it comes to Mass that is the wrong question. What we need to ask ourselves is “what can I do for God and for others?” What we do for God is give of ourselves as a sacrifice of praise at Mass. That means trying to be totally present to what is happening= at Mass. What we do for others is, first and foremost, just showing up. We show love and respect to our brothers and sisters at Mass by our presence. We say, “We are the Catholic Christian community of Hershey and I will be here for you! We are in this together!” In a very real way, being present - to God and to one another - is the hardest work of all!