My dear brother and sisters:
It has been an incredible, sometimes exhausting 2024- so many changes, so many opportunities to rejoice, to grieve, to say goodbye, and say hello.
We said a powerful goodbye to Father Mahoney and saw Sr. Nancy retire, and Allison Buff and Fr. Britto said adieu as they set off to other shores and adventures. We celebrated an astonishing amount of funerals, baptisms and weddings, brought three young people through the sacraments of initiation into the loving arms of the Church, set off an amazing adventure to Italy and took a bite of the Big Apple, we marveled at the spellbinding power of actor Frank Runyeon, and were encouraged and challenged by compelling witnesses of faith, hope and love. We were, and continue to be, inspired, entertained and challenged by movies for kids and grownups, through bible studies, discussion groups, and Symbolon. There’s more to come.
I begin, as always, in gratitude for our staff, each one I have asked more and more each day, and each has responded with faith, hope and love. To James, Dianne, John, Tom, Paul, Oscar and Cynthia, Joan & Kenny and Tim – I am grateful, beyond words.
Through this year, we built a great Finance Council and now we are in the process of rebuilding our Pastoral Council. We have introduced a new committee- Worship – and we’re off to a great start. It’s hard work, but much has been accomplished already and I look forward to what the new year will bring to these and the many other groups that will come. I’ve been meeting with folks as well to build a Family Outreach group- with all the young families in this town- the potential is limitless, and I intend to bring it to bear.
We are blessed to have priests at St. Catherine’s Rectory with me who love our collaborative, and help in many ways- thank you, Frs. Tony & Mark, and our newbie, Msgr. Felix! I am very grateful for our Eucharistic Ministers, musicians, lectors, sacristans, ushers, counters, and all those who lead and assist us in the many Masses we have celebrated. Thanks to those who pitch in to make our buildings and grounds so fresh and attractive- I see and hear the changes every day- and I’m far from alone.
Our Faith Formation program has taken on new challenges, particularly our K-4 with me, and I’m thankful for our incredible teachers and their generosity- I look forward to First Communion on May 3 & 4 and Confirmation on May 10. They share the future lovingly and faithfully- we are blessed.
Through the hundreds of Masses, anointings, confessions, the rosaries and adorations, the happy and chaotic sound of children’s laughter, song and prayer, the times we gathered to give thanks to God, and even in the quiet times when we struggled, the tens of thousands of families we reached out with food, love and abiding respect through Harvest on Vine, the heart of our Collaborative, and great work of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, we’ve experienced and shared the tender, loving, strong presence of God. We grew closer all the while, and now we look up and look ahead, together- to the challenges and the opportunities that the new year will bring.
This year has brought great change for us all- a new Bishop and Archbishop- and more to come as we walk boldly to the year ahead- especially a 250th celebration to take place! Now, the time has come- it must come true, sometime soon, somehow. Our salvation comes, the most beautiful and potent power in the world- the love of a Child- our Savior. May God bless you and your family this holy Christmas season and through the New Year! Look up. Look ahead.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. John