Posted on September 1, 2022 View all Pastor's Letter
Dear parishioners,
In today’s gospel, Jesus visits His friends, Lazarus, Martha and Mary in Bethany, I imagine He goes to rest and to spend time with them. From that encounter, arises a precious catechesis that should help each human being to grow in their contact with Him. In the attitude of these two sisters, it is customary to see reflected two ways of living the Christian vocation: the active life and the contemplative life. Mary, “sitting at the feet of the Lord”; while Martha, busy with many things and occupations, always serving and happy, but tired (Lk. 10,39-40.42). “Calm down”, Jesus tells her, “what you do is important, but you need to rest, and more importantly, that you rest being with me, looking at me and listening to me”. Two models of Christian life that we have to coordinate and integrate: live both the life of Martha and that of Mary. We must be attentive to the Word of the Lord, and vigilant, since the noise and traffic of everyday life often hide the presence of God. Because the life and strength of a Christian only remain firm and grow if He remains united to the true vine, from which comes life, love, the desire to continue forward… and not look back. God has called most of us to be like “Martha”. But we must not forget that the Lord wants us to be more and more like “Mary”: Jesus Christ has also called us to “choose the best part” and not let anyone take it away from us.
This week I received a letter from Bishop Burbidge, in which he expresses his joy and gratitude for the support received in the “Bishop’s Lenten Appeal” (BLA), thanks be to God, to the unity and generosity of all, we managed to fulfill the goal given to us. On behalf of our Bishop I thank you for your efforts and your support; God bless you always and know that you are always in his prayers.
I would like to invite all the altar servers of the parish to the annual picnic, which we will hold on August 6th. It will be a very nice occasion to spend time together and have a good time. Please put it on your calendars. Do not forget to come and participate August 6th starting at 11:00am onwards. In the next few days you will receive the formal invitation from the parish office. I will also take advantage of this opportunity to share to those parents with children who have already received their first communion, your children can be part of this ministry. We need more altar servers! Please contact the parish office for more information.
This week you might have already received the raffle tickets for the family festival. Together with the tickets, is a letter with the explanation of how the tickets have to be returned to the parish office. I beg you to please send the tickets as soon as possible, so that the staff and volunteers can begin to work and complete the entire process. Remember that the raffle is the means that provides the most profits for the parish; if you need to sell more tickets, do not hesitate to call or come to the parish office.
Finally, do not forget to register your children for our religious education program, do not leave something so important for the last minute. Education in the faith is something of paramount importance in our parish. The parish office is open and you can come whenever you want to register.
I hope you have a blessed week and don’t forget to give God your best,
Fr. Alex
