There’s always something beautiful with new beginnings. A new kind of dynamism bubbles up and makes us look at things differently.

Remember when you started a new job?  Or when you had your first child?  And perhaps, when you began a married life? It’s like standing in front of a blank canvas needing to be painted with different shades of colors and lights.

That’s exactly how I felt when I accepted Bishop Cantu’s invitation to be the pastor of this church, Holy Spirit Parish. What even makes it more appealing to me was the fact that I’ve heard a lot of positive things about this parish under the leadership of its benevolent pastor, Fr. Brendan. And I have personally witnessed and experienced having presided many liturgies here. It will indeed be a great privilege and challenge to succeed him in maintaining a parochial legacy sustained by a collaborative ministry.

We are living in a different world now – a world that demands new ways of looking at things, new ways of ministering to people, new ways of being Church, new ways that affect the way we worship through our religious practices as a community of faith.

As difficult and challenging our current situations may appear, I assure you that in every twist and turn of our journey, there will always be an epiphany – God’s presence in and through our life waiting to be rediscovered.

As we begin our collaborative efforts in our ministries, let us dare to start something new, something imaginative and something relevant to the signs of our current times. Signs that give more emphasis to the value of life, of unity amidst our diversity. Signs that declare that God’s kingdom is already at hand, residing in the depth of our being.

With faith in our hearts, let us work together through open communication as to how we can all strive to be open in bringing about a new creation.  My heart is always open to listen to your ideas, and I hope that your hearts will be open to mine, too.  Let’s talk….but above all, together let us proclaim the Gospel of Jesus – the coming of the Kingdom of God.

I look forward to meeting each and everyone of you.