Message from the Rector

January 20, 2019

Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

We celebrate this Sunday the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. During Ordinary Time, the Church celebrates the fullness of the mystery of the Lord Jesus. On Sunday – the first day of the week – God assembles his beloved people to hear the Word, to reflect upon it, to offer the living sacrifice of praise, and to eat and drink the banquet of the Lord. Then God sends them forth to proclaim this love by their words and actions (Ordo, p. 112). To signal this change in liturgical season, we will take up once again the First Memorial Acclamation in the Eucharistic Prayer. We are in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, January 18-25. This worldwide celebration of prayer encourages Christians of all denominations to note the importance of unity among ourselves, as our divisions are a counter-witness to the message of the Gospel. Much has been accomplished in the past century of ecumenical meeting and reflection but there is much yet to be done to achieve that unity desired by the Lord for his Church.
 
Our Parish Pastoral Council held its first meeting of the year on January 9^th. After the opening prayer and approval of agenda, the members approved the minutes from the previous meeting (November) of the Council. In business arising from the minutes, the members took note of or discussed the following: plans are advancing for the Day of Recollection which is to be held on February 2 and will include some leaders of ministries in the parish in addition to Council members; and, the positive response to the formation of Hospitality Teams for the Sunday morning Masses was noted with the plan to organize social gatherings on a regular basis after Sunday Masses. The Chair of the Finance Council gave a report on matters from his Council. Under new business, the Rector provided members with a copy of the newsletter of the Centertown Churches Social Action Committee. The question of having a member from our Parish on the CCSAC board remains. The next meeting of the Council will be on Wednesday, February 13. The meeting ended with prayer.

Fr. Kevin

To view the Message from the Rector on the sex abuse crisis - please click here