Pastor’s Weekly Letter, November 17, 2019

Pastor’s Weekly Letter, November 17, 2019

15 Nov 2019 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear friend,

Special thanks to all who made our annual school auction a success. So many parishioners come together to organize this fund raiser for our school.  While the dollars are essential to continuing the excellence in our educational program, the auction is a great community event. A lot of time and energy is exhausted by so many people to ensure that we have a great social gathering. No matter your role, thank you. Thank you for buying a ticket, purchasing items, any level of donation, helping with acquisitions, decorating, entertainment, and even the necessary processing for the funds. It takes so many to organize a successful evening. It is worth all the time and effort to have this community event. If you missed it this year, I hope you are able to join us in future years.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned at the annual financial parish update that we are soon building a grotto in the rosary play area, in front of the parish center. We intended to begin construction this fall, but the temperature changed too quickly as our plans were developing. The plan is to construct the grotto in the spring of 2020. A statue of the Holy Family was purchased from Italy. This new grotto will invite our families and school students to reflect on the beauty of the family and why we call the family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Holy. I am hopeful this addition to our campus will encourage prayer and devotion for many years to come.

The gospel passage from Luke this weekend invites us to a proper perspective on the material world. The passage records a conversation between Jesus and the Jewish community about the magnificence of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple was a true wonder in the first century world. The Temple was treated as God’s house on earth. For this reason, the best the community had to offer was included in the Temple. Costly jewels, metals, and fabrics were used to create the feeling of awe in the Temple. As people were speaking in awe of this, Jesus made the simple point that everything in this world, except for the human soul, will eventually turn to dust. The Temple was actually destroyed by the Romans some 40 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. He was certainly making a prophecy; but, more importantly pointing people to focus on what really matters in life. In a few weeks, we will begin a new liturgical year with the season of Advent. This season gives us the opportunity to once again listen to the words of John the Baptist to repentance and renewal. May we all seek the Lord’s grace and guidance to be forgiven, and focus on those spiritual thoughts and beliefs that will prepare us for heaven one day.

God bless,

Father David