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My dear parish family,
 
I will be leaving soon to spend my vacation with my family in the Philippines. While I’m there, I will offer a Mass to commemorate the one-year anniversary of my mother’s death (she passed on October 6, 2023), and I will offer memorial Masses for two dear aunts whose deaths followed my mom’s by a matter of weeks. Sometimes, the valley of the shadow of death is deeper than we expect it to be. Sometimes, it is wider. For my family last year, it was both: Less than three months after my mother’s and aunts’ deaths, my brother died—just three days before Christmas. Still, the steady sunrise of grace during grief always returns us to light, and this is what my family and I will celebrate through these Masses while I am away.
 
How wonderful that our hope can be completely expressed in just eleven words:    
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” (John 6:54). This promise sustains the Catholic heart. This reality comforts us when we consciously meditate on our Communion together. This is why our parish is devoted to the ongoing Eucharistic Revival (which you can read more about by visiting www.eucharisticrevival.org. This revival is not about following a trend or merely having something to do. It’s about real people needing real hope; it’s about people seeking strength in trying times; it’s about creating mindfulness so burdened hearts can feel lighter in the presence of Christ; and, today in our parish, it’s about you: Whatever your sorrow, be assured that Jesus is here for you. Our community is here for you.
 
I know this from experience. Your thoughtfulness and expressions of sympathy last fall and winter helped me. Sharing the Eucharist—our tangible hope—with you week after week over the last year has lifted me, and I will offer thanks for this and for you during our family liturgies. Please pray with us, and I know that together God will bring us more completely into his light.
 
I look forward to being back with you in November.  
 
Fr. Allan     
 

My dear friends,
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There is a short phrase in our gospel reading this weekend that may escape notice as we focus on sorting out the counter-intuitive things Jesus is teaching in the lesson. While he is saying that the “first will be last” and that the greatest among his followers will be those who willingly serve all, Jesus brings a child before him and puts his arms around it. Jesus—God the Son, the Word who formed all things—gives a kid a hug. This wasn’t needed to make his point. Jesus could have used just words. He had his disciples’ attention, and, beyond that, he didn’t need to embrace the child to use him or her as a model of what it means to be unassuming. So, why did he do it? 

I think Jesus hugged the child because the child needed a hug. Think about it: The atmosphere was tense. Jesus’s disciples had just been arguing among themselves about which of them was the greatest, and Jesus was working to resolve their conflict. The child, who was right there with them, surely sensed all that. So, when Jesus calls this child into the center of that group at that moment, it’s nearly certain he or she was visibly nervous, and Jesus reacted by wrapping the child in the security and warmth of his arms. 

This is the heart of Christ. This shows you how Jesus feels when he sees your anxiety, the very unease you may be feeling as you read these words before Mass. It also tells you that Jesus will move to reassure you, and I pray you will find this moment of reassurance today during Communion, whether you are a guest among us or a long-established parishioner. I hope you will feel a warm, embracing spirit as you receive Christ. As scriptures so clearly teach us, nothing matters more than our experiencing and sharing love like this. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Fr. Allan  ​

​My dear parish family,
 
In this week's bulletin, you will find our annual Parish Financial Report. As you read it, think of it as an X-ray showing the structure of support that enables our church and its ministries to stand and move in service to God. I am grateful for every penny that you entrust to us, and I am grateful for our Business Administrator, Beverly Burgess, our Finance Council, our cash counters, and the other office volunteers who express their commitment to Jesus Christ and his Church through their tireless, conscientious efforts to ensure the sufficiency and integrity of our finances.
 
Our gospel reading this weekend tells of Jesus healing a man who suffered from deafness and a related speech impediment. Jesus touched this man’s ears and tongue. Then, he said “Be opened” and, just that quickly, the man was able to hear and speak plainly.
 
I see a connection between this sudden, startling display of God’s mercy and the repeated gesture of grace each of you performed over the last year as you placed envelopes in our offering baskets or donated online: Each act enabled someone to hear; each enabled someone to speak; each resulted in Jesus Christ being glorified as people witnessed God’s work and said “He has done all things well.” (Mark 7:37) Your generosity supported outreach, Christian growth, and the nearly 500 Masses and other liturgies we offer each year. When you give, you serve; and when you serve, souls live.
 
This is why we exist as a parish, and I remain humbled and thankful to be in service with you. 
 
— Fr. Allan