My dear friends in Christ,
An important aspect of our shared journey in faith is one’s identity, established by our name. When we greet someone or vice versa, we generally use that person’s name. This brings us into a personal relationship with that person. If we don’t know the person, we usually ask them what their name is so that we again bring it to a personal level. Did you know that there is another name that we inherited? It was given to us as an identifier at our Baptism: the name of Christ-a Christian. To live with the identity “Christian” comes with rights and responsibilities, namely, to take up the cross and live the gospel for the life of the world. This can be painful and difficult at times. That is why it is imperative that we continue to pray for one another and for our Church.
This is Catechetical Sunday. We will bless our CRE and all of our Catechists at the 9:30 AM Mass. We are most grateful for their work and we thank them for sharing their time and talent with our youth.
Thank you to all who made our Ministry Fair successful. Most of the ministries had at least two people sign up. One ministry has eight new possible members. Remember, you are the Body of Christ, the Church. Without your help we cannot minister effectively.
I want to thank Deacon Joe for presiding over the Taize prayer service last week. I was at the Priest Convocation and I will report on that next week. Thanks to Gary, Fran, and Renee for setting up the Church for this service in honor of our heroes, victims, and first responders of 9/11. We will never forget!
May God bless you all!
Father John