Posted on October 18, 2024 View all Pastor's Letter
Dear Parishioners:
This Sunday’s Gospel exhorts us to serve and to self-examine our service to God. One of the greatest temptations we humans easily fall into is glory, power, and recognition; we always seek to be valued for our abilities, our work, our character, and even our service to others.
Sometimes, it is difficult to escape this temptation; perhaps we need, from time to time, to recharge our self-esteem batteries to sustain ourselves amid life’s storms. But from a Christian point of view, we must go further. James and John did not know what they were asking for when they asked to sit at the right and left of the Kingdom of God. This is a recognition of the response to Jesus’ call; until this moment, they had not understood their mission and what service meant. Jesus clarifies things for them after seeing that the others were beginning to protest: “Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all” (Mk. 10, 43-44).
Serving involves suffering and disappointment. Because serving constantly and continuously, day to day, in the family and at work… involves suffering. Everyone who serves and gives of themselves with joy and love knows the cross that serving entails. As an example, we can ask the missionaries, the doctors and nurses, the teachers, those who work with a disabled person, the daughters who care for their elderly parents, the fathers, and mothers who fight for their children, the wife or husband with a spouse who is sick with Alzheimer’s… and so many people who give their lives to serving. Serving means giving until it hurts and doing it out of love. Let us ask for the gift of love with all our strength and let the Lord work in us.
I also want to thank all those who are participating in the challenge of praying the rosary throughout this month of October. St. Josemaría Escriba said that The Holy Rosary is a powerful weapon. Use it confidently, and you will be amazed at the result (The Way, 558). This confidence in praying is manifested in believing in the powerful intercession of the Virgin Mary in the face of any problem or difficulty we may experience. The prayer of this powerful prayer helps us to be stronger in faith.
Finally, I thank you for your demonstrations of affection and your congratulations last Friday, the 18th, the day of my birthday. God bless you. I have had you, and I have you in my prayers. Your prayers are a source of strength and guidance for me, and I ask you to keep me in your prayers and to also pray for my priestly ministry. I am very happy to be your pastor and to be in this parish. I thank you for your support, and I ask you to help me continue to guide this parish according to the will of our Lord. Your role in this parish is crucial, and I am grateful for your dedication. Know that in my imperfections and my faults, I try to do the best I can to bring you closer to God. Again, thank you so much for your charity towards me. Know that I love you very much. May the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to whom we have consecrated ourselves, help us to continue working for our holiness. I have you in my prayers.
May Jesus and Mary bless you.
Fr. Alex