Pastor’s Letter | Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on February 14, 2022 View all Pastor's Letter

Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,

I hope you have had a blessed week and that this Sunday we approach the altar to feed our hearts, with His body and with His blood; food to continue our growth and our contact with Him.

Last year Holy Pope Francis summoned the entire church to live a synod. A synod is a call to walk together. The Pope invites us today as a church to question the life and mission of the Church; perhaps for this reason the motto of this synod is: “communion, participation and mission”. In this synod, unlike of others, Pope Francis invites all the dioceses and parishes around the world to participate in a dialogue and contribute an opinion; a dialogue about the challenges that we are facing. The Pope invites the whole Church to question itself about the path that God expects from the Church of the third millennium”. This itinerary, which is in line with the “aggiornamento” of the Church proposed by the Second Vatican Council, is a gift and a task: walking together, and together reflecting on the path traveled. As the Diocese of Arlington, and as a parish, we will also participate in this process. That is why I want to invite you to participate in these dialogue sessions that we will have between this month of February and April. I will inform you of the dates of the sessions soon. Those who want to participate are welcome, but all those who participate in ministries and groups of our parish such as: lectors, ushers, extraordinary ministers, those who are part of the choirs and the heads of the large groups of the parish, and some of its members, are officially invited. I am very happy because this will help us to examine our own parish reality. We will have three sessions, two in English and one in Spanish. For me, as your parish priest, it is very important that you participate in these sessions and everyone give our contribution because we are a church and we have to live in communion and have an active participation in the life of the Church and thus fulfill our mission.

Additionally, I continue to invite you to participate in the parish formation course that we will have on the sacraments. Father Rampino will start with the first class on February 22nd.  I invite you in advance so that you begin to meditate and so that you put it on your calendars. I encourage you to participate, knowing the sacramental life is important for the growth and enrichment of our faith. We will also begin the “Lenten Bible Study” taught and directed by Deacon Kapral; this study will be every Monday at 7:00 p.m. starting on February 28th, this study is based on the book “With Jesus to the Cross”. I know many are interested in doing it, so please call the parish office for more information or to register.

Finally, I invite you to make the switch to Pushpay, the new platform to receive your online donations. Know that as of April 1st, Faith Direct will stop working, so I ask you to consider doing the switch soon. If you have any questions regarding this change, do not hesitate to call us at the parish office and we will gladly give you the necessary information and help you make the platform change.

Have a week full of blessings. You are all in my prayers,

F. Alex