Pastor’s Letter: August 21, 2022

Pastor’s Letter: August 21, 2022

19 Aug 2022 | Posted by: chadmin

The August 21 bulletin is now available online.  There is also an insert in that bulletin from Diocese about the Growing Disciples pastoral plan. To see that insert, click here.

Dear friend,

School started this week. We started with a few partial days to ease into the year. It’s better for the kids and teachers to not start with full days. One of the biggest challenges for the campus is the additional car traffic and the adjustments for the morning Mass crowd. Parents did a great job of following the school directions. As far as I know, we did not have cars backed up on Sheridan north of War Memorial. That is a successful start! Please continue to pray for the students, parents and teachers as they settle into the year. We plan to have another great year.

As you may know, Bishop Lou launched the Growing Disciples pastoral plan initiative. As Bishop Lou is now the Local Bishop for the Peoria Diocese, he is able to begin ministry and address the comments, questions, and concerns of his first year getting to know the Peoria Diocese. If you read the Catholic Post or follow the schedule of Bishop Lou, you know that he spent his first year in the Diocese getting to know the priests, the parishes, the people, and the 26 counties of the Peoria Diocese. His first year of travel and scheduled meetings was impressive. From his reporting, he was able to learn the Diocese and start reflecting on the next 25 years of his service as Bishop in this Diocese.

The development of a pastoral plan will invite the participation of all Catholics in the Diocese as well as reflect on everything that is a part of our local Catholic Church. The Bishop’s motto is to “Go Make Disciples.” We know that disciples are those who follow Jesus Christ, and that there are many paths to learn to follow Jesus. In a Catholic Diocese, people learn to follow Jesus at church, in school, and at home. We each grow in our faith through retreats, mission work, Bible Studies, faith formation, and personal prayer. There is not one path to holiness, nor is there one means to run a school, a church, or a particular ministry. The Growing Disciples pastoral plan is a new initiative from Bishop Lou to discuss the current state of all aspects of our Catholic Diocese and plan for an increase in strength and vibrancy for tomorrow. In many ways, the Diocese has seen a decline in numbers over the last few years.  A pastoral plan will help reflect on the best ways to move forward, meeting the spiritual needs of all our Catholics, as we face the reality for a decrease in the number of Catholics, priests, citizens, and the resources to meet needs. Please pray for the success of this pastoral plan and for Bishop Lou to help guide our Local Church into the next few decades.

God bless,

Father David