Pastor’s Letter & February 7 Bulletin

Pastor’s Letter & February 7 Bulletin

5 Feb 2021 | Posted by: chadmin

The February 7 bulletin is now available online. 

Dear friend,

The lectionary for Sunday Mass this year provides readings from the Gospel of Mark. Mark’s gospel is the shortest of the Four Gospels. It focuses on the important points to the ministry and Passion of Jesus. A quick read through the Gospel can feel like Jesus never took a break. There are a few times, although it seems to go fast, that the Gospel of Mark records Jesus “going off to a deserted place to pray.” Often after these times of rest, Jesus would call his disciples, perform a significant miracle, or as in this Sunday’s Gospel, He illustrates the importance of proclaiming the Gospel. The “Gospel” or the “Good News” is the revelation of God’s truth. We stand for the Gospel reading at Mass because we recognize the words of the Gospel provide us with Divine thought. The study of the Gospel helps us to think as God thinks. Whether it was His own preaching or the preaching of the Church that Jesus established, we learn from Jesus the importance that God sees in people understanding His mind/heart. So much of the Gospel of Jesus calls us to have communion between what we know we ought to do and be with what we actually say and do. The call of the Christian is to be entirely authentic between the interior life and how we conduct ourselves in this world. The training in proper thinking is the goal of the Bible, which ultimately leads us to Heaven. As we pray these last few weeks before Lent begins, may the Lord renew in us a desire for His revealed truth and that His truth sets us free.

The last few weeks, the Health Department in Peoria began offering the Moderna coronavirus vaccine to educators in group 1b of the vaccine distribution. Clergy, as well as school administrators and teachers, are included in the 1b group. I was blessed to receive the first shot of the vaccine this past Tuesday. In late December, we were asked to provide a list of those in our school that have regular contact with students. About 5 weeks later, the vaccine was available to our school community. We received the vaccine at Heddington Oaks. From the time of registration to receiving the vaccine, I can’t say enough about the efficiency and organization of the process for our educators. It is a great gift to our faculty and staff that they know they are vaccinated as they serve the children in our community. As this has been a tough year for so many, seeing a light toward the end of this pandemic renews a hope in all of us. The development of a vaccine in such as short amount of time is truly awe inspiring. I often say that the majority of miracles God works in our first world country happen through the medical field. People using their gifts and talents in service of one another is truly following the call of Christ to put others before one’s self. As we are mindful of those who died and those affected so deeply by the coronavirus, as the vaccine distribution continues through our society, we are once again called to gratitude for all those that served others during the pandemic. Although we are still in the middle of this pandemic, bits of normalcy are appearing all around us. As we pray in thanksgiving for the vaccine developers, the doctors, nurses, healthcare providers and the emergency professional, may we all continue to see the collective goal of protecting one another.

God bless,

Father David