-
October 24, 2023This week, we begin
with the
introduction of a
program called
Grateful
discipleship. I want
to begin by speaking about the
financial condition of the parish and
first say that as we continue to
recover from the pandemic, we find
ourselves facing the same challenges
of finances. We are fortunate to have
other sources of income, i.e., the
rental of the school buildings and the
parking lots; however, our principal
income comes from your generosity.
In the following weeks, I am going to
ask everyone to consider what their
discipleship means to them and
challenge everyone to consider how
their time, talent, and treasure, all
direct and indirect gifts from God,
might be offered back to the parish
as a way to serve God.
As you can see from the financial
report and my weekly reports on
buildings and grounds, there is
always something to address. We are
getting ahead slowly, but these are
old and large buildings, so the
problems are rarely minor. I am
pleased that we have some
resources and good people helping
me to manage the challenges and
look forward to what we will do in the
future.
More important to me, however, are
the uses of our talent and time. My
goal is to be able to say that every
person has a ministry, from sitting at
home and volunteering to stuff
envelopes and pray for those
receiving letters from us to public
ministries around our worship. I also
include the many hidden ministries
of homebound or hospital ministry to
caring for the buildings, decorations,
and the grounds. We also have an
active healing ministry and always
are looking for those who are willing
to lead small groups. I hope that
everyone with a skill or talent will be
willing to bring that to the Lord and
serve Him through the people of this
parish.
After my return from Israel, I was
asked to go to Altoona, PA (a
beautiful little city nestled in the
Allegheny mountains) and speak to
the priests there. My message was
about our parish, and what good
things have been done, are going on,
and the hopes we have for the
future. Using the principles of Divine
Renovation, we are slowly seeing
changes that God wants: an active,
vibrant missional church. As the Holy
Father and many bishops,
archbishops, and cardinals gather in
Rome to talk about the church, one
theme that is emerging is the
importance of being missional, that is
to be willing to open our doors and
look out, go out, and invite in those
who do not know Jesus and
introduce him to them. We should be
very proud that we are a place where
others want to know what and how
we are doing what we do to fulfill our
mission.
Final thoughts, we were asked to
speak to several media outlets about
our experiences in Israel. I hope that
all can see that there is a human
interest in what happened to us, but
my observation is that all of us must
be more concerned with the ending
of violence and force as a means of
communication to achieve any long-
lasting peace anywhere. We can
overpower people into submission of
course, but there will never be real
peace without real justice. I am not
sure what that looks like everywhere,
but I know that this is what Jesus
taught and he was considered a
radical. So we need to be radical
people and work for justice, and to
reap peace.
Building news: The trees out in the
yard are the latest issue to address.
Apparently, three of the trees are
actually large weeds and need to be
controlled. The sugar maple trees
along the ramp walkway and the red
maple tree in the middle right as you
look at the door are all in need of
care. The red maple may need to be
taken down. We are relying on the
services of a professional arborist, so
we will see how we should proceed.
St. James church is having a steam
trap project done to improve the
efficiency of the boiler and the pipes.
IC church is being prepared for the
winter and then next spring we will
have the bricks out front, the back
and the chimney all repointed.
