May 1, 2022 – Pastor’s Corner

PASTOR’S CORNER
Blessings to you this Easter season, and may the Joy and Peace of the
Risen Christ fill your hearts! It was a joy to see so many of you at the
Easter Sunday Masses this year! I believe that it was the best attended
Easter that I have experienced since I arrived at the parish in 2018 — over
500 people came to Mass for Easter Sunday! May we keep that
enthusiasm for Our Crucified and Risen Lord throughout the year!
As Catholics, we are united in faith (professing the same Catholic Faith,
accepting the teachings that Jesus Christ handed down to us through His
holy Catholic Church), in sacraments (encountering Christ in the seven
sacraments that He gave to His Church), in morality (at least striving to
conform ourselves to the moral teaching given by Christ in the Scriptures
and through His Church), and in prayer. But as human persons, we also
need a real sense of community, of family, to support us in the journey of
faith, hope and love. We are NOT autonomous individuals who can do
everything on our own. In fact, in our natural human life, we have the
longest time from birth to maturity of any of the species in the animal
kingdom — at least 18 years, and some would argue, 25 years or so until
full maturity of the human brain. If we need parents and family, and a
support system for our natural life, it is all the more true that we need it
for the support of our spiritual life, our quest for union with God and
eternal life in heaven.
This is why the parish is necessary. We need our spiritual family, our
faith community, to support us in the journey through the difficulties of
this life, until we come to eternal life with God in heaven. Once we are in
heaven, we will be with the full family of faith, the Catholic Church
Triumphant and Glorified in heaven as the Body of Christ. But until then,
we need to see the parish as our spiritual “village” where we help and
support one another during the journey.
It is time to return to this vision of the parish as our village, our
community. This Sunday, join us for the “Taste of Mexico” dinner, and
socialize with your village family. And you will be supporting the new
Youth Center, which will help us for many years to come in the formation
of our young people in the Faith!
Fr. Ben