New Beginnings

Today is a day of great joy for all of us in the Greenfield, Hazelwood, and Oakland communities.  We have been on a journey these past several years with our gazed focused on one goal: to join our four parishes together into one community of faith.  Today marks both the culmination of that process and a new beginning.  Saint Paul Cathedral parish begins its service today to the faithful in our three neighborhoods and to all of God's people in our communities. We bring with us all the history, legacy, tradition and faith of our ancestors and all that has gone before us.  Our roots will always be honored and treasured.  But we have the wonderful opportunity of beginning something new.  Nothing in life stays the same.  Change is always difficult but brings with it many graces and blessings.  We must now work together as one parish family to serve the faithful in our three neighborhoods:  Greenfield, Hazelwood and Oakland.  I invite everyone to get involved in the life of our parish.  We need your talents and gifts; we need your faith and love; we need your service and engagement as we seek to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with joyful hearts and celebrate the gift of our faith.  These are not easy times with the coronavirus pandemic and the restrictions and obligations in place for the safety and welfare of our people.   But we look forward with hope, doing the best we can with the resources available to us.  We must examine our parish facilities and operations to see what is needed and what we can afford.    We need to have adequate resources for ministry and outreach, especially to our elderly, to our children and youth, our young adults and families, to the unchurched and those who have fallen away from the practice of the faith.  We want to be able to have programs and ministry that engage all the members of our parish family.  I invite everyone to get involved, to be active, to contribute your fair share to the Church, and to help us become a vibrant, faith-filled, loving parish community.  We look to our patron, Saint Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, to guide and to inspire us in these efforts.