My dear Friends in Christ,
In the Gospel reading this Sunday, the disciples try to prevent a man from driving out demons in Jesus’ name because “he does not follow us.” But Jesus teaches them that even those who are not part of the inner circle can lead others to Him, for “whoever is not against us is for us.” That is such a lesson for Parish life as well. Sometimes we act like the disciples and point out who the outsiders are. I don’t know that person. We at times view outsiders—those who are new to our Church, those that may be visiting for the first time, those in search of a Church to belong to as unrecognizable. Yet we are called to welcome and journey together with them to build up the kingdom of our parish. Many new faces and some old are returning to Church as the pandemic restrictions are lifted. Welcome back! Thank you for supporting Corpus Christi Church.
With the leasing of the building as a charter school, we have encountered a number of inspections which yielded several violations that needed to be corrected. It has been costly as we had to repair a broken pipe in the school at a cost of $12,000 dollars. We needed to make fire code corrections which set us back another $14,000 dollars. You often ask where our money goes and these are just a couple of areas that provide an answer.
On Sunday, October 3, 2021, we will have the Blessing of Animals at 12:15 PM in the carport area adjacent to the ball field. Please bring your pets for a blessing in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi.
May God bless you all,
Father John