Dear Friends,
I begin, humbly like Saint Paul, in having to thank the Lord for each and every one of you!
You, my sisters and brothers of Saint Catherine of Siena and the Church of the Transfiguration are my daily joys and blessings! There is a lot happening in our parish lives!
First, we are now in the month of October. As a church, we have acknowledged this month to the respect of all life. This Sunday, October 6th, is dedicated as Respect Life Sunday. I have been preparing my homily for some time now and pray the Holy Spirit is guiding me where to proclaim Good News. I always trust in our Lord and will continue to believe I’ll be guided to share His wisdom with you. As I say every now and then, “May these words humbly shared, be humbly heard”.
Our Diocese and your parishes are trusting you, faithful parishioners, will respond to the 2024 Census. As I shared last week in my bulletin article, it is critical for me and your parish staff to have accurate contact information. Emergencies with callers that speak too quickly and without clarity leave me too many times wondering what is the accurate contact information. Cell numbers (how many times do I call to hear about a land line no longer exists) and emails change. I, we, your parish homes need accurate information so we can answer your call to be present in your spiritual lives.
PLEASE, participate in the Census Update. You can fill out a card in the pews this weekend. You can use the QR Code in the bulletin to get on board. And, you can respond, as several have already, to the email message about participating in the census that has been delivered to every registered parishioner. Your attentiveness not only helps you, it helps your parish ministers do all we can for you!
“Extending Christ’s Mission” is our Catholic Ministries’ Theme this year. I pray that our two parishes succeed in making our goals as we did last year. Did you receive an appeal letter from Bishop Matano and me? If you are registered in either parish, you should have. I received mine and sent my donation out immediately. You can visit the Diocesan website to learn everything about the CMA.
As you will see in this issue of our bulletin, each of our parishes has a goal. Each parish will have a responsibility to make sure by the end of the appeal, we will fulfill our goal. We will, because any deficit will come from our parish savings.
I am grateful to Leo McLaughlin and Jen Yates who addressed this year’s CMA at Saint Catherine of Siena. I, hopefully, did as well as these two stewards, in addressing this CMA at Transfiguration. May I ask all of you to prayerfully to join me in making a pledge.
We may not always agree on everything, like the Lord’s disciples, yet, like then in Jesus’s circle, like today, we are called to build the Body of Christ, as ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC and APOSTOLIC ! Thank you, one and all for supporting me in “Extending Christ’s Mission.”
Blessings,
Father Rob