A Letter From Our Pastor

Dear Parishioners,

God’s peace to you.  As I thought about what I would write I asked myself, “What is the most important message that needs to be given at this time to our parish family?” There are many things that we need to hear over and over again because, as human beings, we have a tendency to forget.  We get caught up in the nonsense and the things that don’t really matter.  Our priorities easily get shifted and we find ourselves focusing on the wrong things.

Have you ever asked yourself, “Why am I here?” “Why was I born?” The answer to these questions is simple.  You and I have been given life so that we may glorify God the Father through His Son Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit.  We do this in so many different ways. Mainly, we do this in the ordinary events of our lives through our encounters with one another. We glorify the Father through the way we treat one another and acknowledge the presence of God in each other and in ourselves. In order to do this, we have to go back to the beginning. In Genesis we are told that we have been created in the divine image (Genesis 1:26-27). This makes us different from all the rest of God’s creation. If we live our lives based in this truth think of how it would effect the way we look at and treat one another?  Think of how it would effect the personal decisions we make for living our own lives because we have come to acknowledge that we also bear the divine image. It’s time for us to go back to this basic truth and to live our lives in accordance with it. This identity has been given to us by God from the moment of creation. It is our birthright.

To be able to accept this deeper awareness requires change; a conversion of heart to a deeper faith in Jesus and the living of His Gospel. It is time for all of us, as a parish family, to ask for this conversion of heart so that the Father may be glorified, more deeply through us. All we have to do is open ourselves to this grace and it will be given. Everything will come to us through Jesus in His Eucharistic Presence, in our encounter with Him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and in our openness to a deeper friendship with His Mother, who is always interceding for us. This is where it all takes place.

I’d like to leave you with a Scripture passage that can help us take a step in this direction.  Please spend some time with Colossians 3:1-17 and see what the Lord has to say to your heart.

In His Love,
Fr. Nick Mormando, OFM Cap
Pastor