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. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The wisdom of Saint Ignatius of Loyola

Saint Ignatius of Loyola was a man destined for fame and glory.  The youngest of 11 children, his parents dedicated him to the service of the Church, a customary practice at the time.  But Ignatius had other ideas and soon was trained for the knighthood, for battle and triumph.   God had other plans.  He was wounded severely when a cannonball tore apart his leg.  It was during his convalescence that he began to read in earnest the life of Jesus and the lives of the saints.  Reportedly he had a vision of the Blessed Mother with the child Jesus and his conversion led to a life dedicated to God and the Church.  Soon he was giving away his wealth to the poor, living on the kindness of others, and deepening a life a solitude and prayer.   Ignatius writes that those were the happiest days of his life.  He experienced true peace and great joy in his decision to give himself over to God completely. He undertook the study of philosophy and theology and soon found himself the leader of a g
Read more

Take on the Heart of Jesus

The Gospel story at today's Mass is a difficult one to hear at first.  Jesus appears to be rude to the Canaanite woman who is pleading for her daughter's life.  "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!"  These are startling words coming from a Gentile.  At first Jesus appears to be ignoring her.  He doesn't answer or even look her way.  The disciples want to send her away so annoyed are they at her behavior.  Then Jesus himself seems to dismiss her as well:  "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."  But this woman is undaunted in her desire to get Jesus' attention.  She believes with all her heart that he can help her and cure her daughter who is tormented by a demon.  She continues to call out, unfazed by her dismissal.  "Lord help me!" she cries out again.  What determination and strength of character.  She will not give up.  She keeps calling out to the Lord in her misery.  Once again, Jesus appears to refuse her plea:  "It is no
Read more

Keeping the sin of anger at bay

I’m certain that I can’t be the only one who has noticed that we live in a culture where there is a growing volume of anger on display. We see it everywhere. Earlier this week as I sat at a traffic light which turned green someone became incensed that I didn’t move more quickly through the intersection, screaming profanity and nearly running me onto the sidewalk. Incidents of road rage are spiraling; people attacking others in stores and on the streets; politicians spewing angry and hurtful diatribes on television every day; the list goes on and on.   But anger can also be in our homes and in our hearts and yes, even in our church communities – sometimes bubbling below the surface.  There are a good many people, for example, who are angry at the Church because they have to wear a mask or because a particular church building can’t be reopened.  Some have even let their anger prevent them from coming to Mass.  It is high time that we fight this spiritual evil that is so poisonous,
Read more