|
 Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We
rejoice today with the Church all over the world as we celebrate the Feast of
Christ the King! Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, has taken His place in
Heaven, in His Father’s Kingdom, and has prepared a place for all of us who
truly follow Him, to live with Him forever! As our liturgical year comes to a
close, we remember where we are going and what we are supposed to be all about!
As Blessed Miguel Pro, whose Feast Day we would normally be celebrating today,
cried out just before he was shot and martyred in Mexico on this day in 1927,
“Long Live Christ the King!”
Yesterday morning, dozens of turkeys, and gallons of milk, and potatoes, and
bread, and pumpkin pies went out of our Parish Hall to 165 families in our area
who are in need. All of that food, the hours of service that it took to
purchase, to organize, to pack up, and to deliver that food, and even the boxes
that the food was delivered in, all came from this community! I am always very
proud of this community, but I believe that I am never more proud than on the
days of our Thanksgiving food delivery which took place yesterday and our
Christmas gifts and food delivery, which is going to take place on December 13th.
Hundreds of us have worked together to make this happen! So many have
volunteered! So many have donated money, and time, and goods! So many have
put aside their own worries and concerns to help those who are even more in
trouble! This is truly awesome to behold! The very heart of any Christian
community is its compassion and caring, especially for those in need. We don’t
know most of the people that we delivered food to yesterday. We may never meet
them. They may never set foot inside our church or on our property. They may
never know a thing that Catholics believe in. But they will know that we cared
enough as a community to do something to help them out, at this important time
of the year! My thanks to Kendra and Jerry Geis, Suzanne and Tom Oliger, Kathy
and Ron Pelletier, Ann and Mike Brown, and Peggy and Ken Norus for providing the
leadership for our Thanksgiving and Christmas outreach efforts, as well as for
our own Shepherd’s Gate Food Pantry. As a Parish, we all owe a great debt of
gratitude to these folks who give so much to make this work for our entire
community. It takes all of us to make it happen, but without these individuals
organizing us and making these opportunities available for us, we would not be
able to do nearly as much. Thanks also go to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, to
the Holy Name Society and Altar Rosary Society, to our Confirmation candidates
who helped out for service hours, and to our school and PRE families, who
stepped up to help out. Thank you!
This
weekend, you notice the Advent Angel trees have gone up in the church narthex.
Yes, Advent really does begin NEXT weekend! I am once again inviting everyone
to take an Advent Angel off the tree, purchase the gift on the Angel, and bring
the gift back to church wrapped and ready for delivery by Dec. 9th.
We don’t have a lot of time to get this done, so please help us out today.
Also, I’ve been asked to remind you to purchase only what is listed on your
Angel. If you wish to do more or buy more for those in need, please take
another Angel. Sometimes, we can be so generous and go a little wild, that we
over-buy for one person, and forget that we are trying to take care of many
people. I would ask that you be generous. In tough times, we cut back in a lot
of different ways. Some of us have to cut back this year, because many of us
have lost jobs. That means that the rest of us must step up and do what we can
to help out. Please be generous!
This Thursday is Thanksgiving. We will be having Mass together at 9:00 AM in
the main sanctuary. If you are going to be in town, won’t you please consider
coming and joining us for Mass? It is not a Holy Day of Obligation. Nobody has
to be here. It’s just a chance to say ‘thank you’ to God in one of the most
intimate ways possible. To be honest, it is one of my favorite Masses of the
entire year. And I promise you, that NOT ONE person who will be at Mass this
Thursday will leave early. So before the turkey and dressing, before the
pumpkin pie, and before the football marathon begins, come and say ‘thank you’
to the real source of our blessings. And no, it’s not Kroger or ESPN!
Have a great week! Happy Thanksgiving! If you are going to be traveling this
week, please be careful. We need all the Catholics that we can get. May God
bless you and your family and friends!
In Christ,
Fr. Kevin
“The test of
our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much;
it is whether we provide enough for those who have too
little.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
|
