My dear Friends in Christ,
Every so often, we need to trust God to move in our lives even when things seem impossible. Today’s Gospel tells us the story of Simon Peter on a fishing expedition. He had been at work all day and night and did not catch a single fish. Jesus approaches Simon and says, “Pull out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon said in reply, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.” When they had done this, they caught an abundance of fish and their nets were tearing. What was impossible became possible simply because “All things are possible with God!” When things don’t seem to go our way, we must put our faith and trust in God. He will never let us down or abandon us. This is not easy for us to do. We have all had moments of question and doubt. Our faith instructs us that God provides for us and will never let us down.
This weekend we will show a video about the Synod for Synodality at each Mass. An integral part of the diocesan synodal journey itself with its principal themes of “communion, participation, mission,” is the effort to reach out to as many Catholics of the Diocese as possible to listen to them, journey with them and to actively participate in the Church’s missionary role.
At the end of the month, we will launch the Annual Catholic Appeal with its theme: What does love have to do with it … everything! We’ll show the video and explain the pledge cards. May God’s mercy be with us as we continue to journey together.
May God bless you all,
Father John