Pastor’s Letter | 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on June 28, 2024 View all Pastor's Letter

Dear Parishioners,

This is the last weekend of June, and this Monday, we begin the month of July. We are already experiencing the Summer atmosphere, a time when many take time to vacation and enjoy more with their family; however, at this time, many also take vacations in their life of faith and their contact with God, and some stop participating in Sundays in the Sunday Eucharist and even the sacrament of confession, remember God does not take vacations to pour out His blessings and graces on us. When we go on vacation, we must find a place to participate in the Holy Eucharist because God is always faithful to us, and we should always be grateful for His love and mercy.

On another note, I thank all of you for your support and financial collaboration with our parish. We have finished fiscal year 23-24. In the financial report I publish each year, I will let you know how we finished this year financially. I am sure this next fiscal year will be a little tighter financially, but I trust in God and His generosity that we can overcome these challenges. This year, unfortunately, the offertory had a reduction of 5%, which has affected us a lot because it has not been possible to cover what we projected in the budget; we hope that next year we can achieve what we projected in the budget for next year. As your parish pastor, I have managed everything you have donated as best as possible and sought the best for the parish; I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but our sanctuary is cleaner and more organized. My dream as your parish pastor is to modernize the facilities and provide them with what is necessary to ensure that our groups and activities have what they need, thanks to your commitment and the unity we maintain.

I want to officially welcome our new parochial vicar, Father Ramón Domínguez, who has begun this new pastoral experience with us since last Thursday, the 27th. I invite you to make him feel welcome and at home; Father Dominguez will be dedicated full-time to the parish and will cover most of Father Berghout’s responsibilities. Welcome Father Ramón to our parish! I invite you to stop by the Sunday Social after each mass on July 7 so we can welcome him. Also, I tell you that Father Luke Dundon will help us with some masses and other sacraments on the weekends. He will be studying at Catholic University during the week. He is a Navy chaplain, but our bishop wants him to exercise his ministry in our parish with at least one mass on Sundays; he will begin helping us on the weekend of July 27 and 28.

Next August 17, we will hold the fourth Parish Festival, and we have already started with the organization. Soon, you will begin receiving raffle tickets this year; the prizes will be $4,000, $2,000, and three prizes of $1,000 each; the raffle seeks to make a profit for the parish, the value of the ticket is $5.00; Along with the tickets you will also receive a letter where I explain the details of the raffle, there are ten tickets per family, I ask you to please participate and buy the tickets, the more we sell, the more profit we will have for our parish.

Finally, this weekend, we celebrate our Independence Day. I consider it a favorable day to pray for our nation, for our leaders, and for the needs that we suffer as a country. At the same time, thank God for everything great and beautiful that we possess. As your pastor and on behalf of all the parish staff, I wish you all a happy Fourth of July. Enjoy it with your family, and I hope you rest and celebrate.

May God bless you all, and Happy Independence Day!

Fr. Alex