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July 25, 2022Whew, that was fast! I have said that several times in my priesthood when I suddenly realized large chunks of time had passed. On August 1, I begin the sixth year of my assignment here. (Normally, pastors are assigned in six-year terms and then renewed once or twice.) We have come a long way from the first days of my arrival, and I feel that we are beginning again. My first Saturday I met with the outgoing Father Bob Connors, got the keys, and some direction, celebrated a wedding, heard confessions, celebrated the 4:00 PM Mass and went back to the rectory and got ready for the next day. It has been busy ever since that first glorious day. I am so grateful to God for all the blessings I have received, the people I have met and the opportunity to share the Lord and all the grace He has sent here over the years.
As the pandemic started a few years ago, we were about to roll out a vision and a path for the future. It included a concentration on evangelization and healing. It also included new ways of bringing the teachings of the Church to all those who have not heard the Gospel. This is ultimately the Church’s mission, to fulfill what Jesus told his disciples in the Gospels before his Ascension, “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Gospel, make disciples, teach them what I have commanded you, baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and know that I am with you always.” (MT 28:19-20,) Each Gospel has a version of this, and the message is clear, that we exist to bring Jesus Christ to others. It is also clear that the church’s mission has two parts. We are people who are shepherds and men and women who fish. We shepherd the flock that is inside the church, i.e., all our present members and then all of us are called to fish, to bring others, to Christ. The way we do that is by strengthening ourselves with the sacraments, prayer, programs, etc. Prepared for this aspect of the mission, we then go out to the world, from our kitchen tables to our streets and give witness to Jesus. These two parts of our parish inform all that we do and help us decide what we will not do too. There are many times we see good programs and opportunities come to us and we pass on them as we concentrate on the Alpha program, the healing ministry, and the regular prayer life of the parish. As we continue to call people to offer their time and gifts to the church, we hope to see a proliferation of ministries. For example, at the parish that hosted the national conference last week, we heard of a program called Alpha sprouts. It is the faith journey we see in the Alpha for adults, re-engineered for preschoolers and pre-first communion children. By the time these kids begin their sacrament preparations, they already know about, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They can identify that Jesus loves them and wants to know them. I would love to see that program here, but we are going to need people who have a heart for catechesis and service to this population. And there are many more examples across the range of Catholic life. Shortly, we will roll out the program Peter Gordon introduced in the beginning of the month. Please pray that the next year and future years are filled with generous responses to the Holy Spirit, God’s providence and the saving message of Jesus Christ.
Peace.
Father Murray
Building news. This week we had a conversation with the construction crew that has been using the St. James parking lot. In gratitude for the use of the space, they are going to fix the area directly behind the church. They will grade and cover it with a new layer of asphalt. The estimated cost of this would be about $20,000.00 so we are getting a good gift. An anonymous donor has stepped forward to help with the restoration of the Mary painting in the IC Sanctuary. I am grateful to all who have contributed so generously to this project.
