Posted on October 16, 2021 View all News
Dear parishioners,
Every weekend we meet either in person or virtual to share the bread of the word of God that nourishes us and gives us life; every weekend is a gathering with the Teacher who instructs us and makes us reflect on our desire for holiness.
In this letter, I want to invite you to pray for a very special intention. As you have heard, the Holy Father convoked a Synod with the theme “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission.” This Synod begins October 2021 in each local diocese and will conclude in 2023 with an Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome.
A synod is, in general terms, an assembly of bishops summoned by the Pope, and its task is to advise and accompany the Holy Father in the administration of the universal church, giving him the proper advice. On this occasion, the Pope has convened this new Synod to examine communion, participation, and the mission that we as the church must carry. Therefore, I invite you to pray for the spiritual and pastoral fruits of this Synod in our diocese and the universal church. Let us offer the Holy Rosary, Communion, and the Holy Eucharist for this intention.
Next weekend is World Mission Sunday, and the second collection will support the church’s missions, especially the missionaries and their needs; and in this context, we will have the visit of Bishop Oswaldo Stefano Escobar; a good friend of mine and a great shepherd. He is the bishop of the Diocese of Chalatenango in El Salvador. As a parish, we have been helping him through the poor box to feed many poor families suffering a lot due to the pandemic, and I am sure that the aid has directly reached the families in need. So he will be here to give thanks for this support and to ask us to help him in the project to build a clinic and a pharmacy in his diocese to help many low-income families. So hopefully, we can support him and alleviate many who suffer from material poverty, pain, and illness.
Finally, I am grateful for all the spiritual support in all the pastoral activities that we carry out as a parish; also the financial support to the parish. I know you do it with much love; I am pleased to be your parish pastor and work with you. Infinite thanks for not leaving me alone and for your expressions of affection. A parish priest is devoted to his parish, my priestly ministry without you has no meaning, and the spiritual life does not grow without the sacraments that the priest administers every day; my dream is to have a living, united parish, and together we seek the same goal, to reach heaven. Every day, I thank God for you, and I ask God to keep you healthy and protect you always. I always offer my sacrifices and my sufferings for you. I also ask for your prayers to be a good shepherd.
God bless you.
Fr. Alex
