On October 23, we will host a parish-wide gathering to celebrate our faith community and give thanks for the success of the first phase of the Parish Renewal Initiative. Our gathering will feature Arena, a live band with Megan Bernstein, food, raffle, and a short reflection to introduce the next steps in our Parish Renewal Initiative.

I encourage everyone to join us in this celebration. If you recall we scheduled our parish picnic last August, however because of the Delta variant we decided to postpone it to a later date. It seems appropriate to me that our picnic should probably be scheduled in conjunction with our parish feast day in 2022 to give us enough time to plan. This however does not preclude us from gathering in a much simpler way. I asked the committee to plan a safe afternoon of reflection, fun, food, and music so that we can celebrate the gift of one another. Please note that this does not replace our parish picnic.

We have so many things to be grateful for, one of which is the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that has led us into our Parish Renewal Initiative so that we can discern God’s plan for us by listening to each other’s dreams, hopes and visions for our parish.

As we prepare for the second phase of our Initiative, that is, “growing in our relationship with God,” I invite us to immerse ourselves in the sacred scriptures.

As St. Paul reminds us in the second reading this weekend, “The Word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edge sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joint and marrow, and able to discern reflection of the heart.” Pray with the Word of God. Allow God to speak to us by reflecting on His own words. Imagine ourselves as one of the Biblical characters. How is God challenging us today? How is God guiding us? In which direction is God leading us?

I look forward to seeing you on Saturday, October 23, 1:00-4:00pm. Come and celebrate with the parish, share stories, listen, pray, sing, dance, eat, and have fun so that we can continue to Respond, Renew, and Re-engage!

The event is FREE, but please RSVP here by Friday, October 20th to help us plan.