Dear Parish Family,

Last weekend we celebrated the Feast of our Patroness, Our Lady of Perpetual Help (officially June 27th). We gathered for a wonderful liturgy to worship God together. We shared fellowship downstairs in Nolan Hall, and at the conclusion of the evening, we prayed a decade of the Holy Rosary, asking Our Lady’s intercession, for all our parish and for all the intentions we have been entrusting to her care. 

I heard many wonderful stories about our parish. More than one family expressed enthusiasm to be back at OLPH and engaged in our mission of Building up the Body of Christ, in this corner of the world. I hope and pray that those who were able to participate felt renewed and lifted up in spirit to go forth from campus and make disciples. In fact, that is my hope each week - that gathering together as “church” in “church” provides people with nourishment of mind and spirit to live out the Gospel message in their lives for the coming week.

One of the questions lingering in my mind is this: how can we get the whole parish to show up to the feast? How can we rally all the troops to take part in this beautiful moment of parish life? It seems to me that we are still somewhat siloed in our Mass times. If an event does not happen at “our Mass” then we tend not to participate. Now, plenty of awesome folks went out of their way to be a part of the feast, and that was meaningful and shows a great love for our community. Others chose not to break from routine for the greater good. So, the question I am pondering is how can we gather our whole spiritual family together? If you have any insights, I would be delighted to hear them. Perhaps this means adjusting Mass times. A survey will go out so that you can give us your feedback.

Thank you for your love for our parish and for our common cause, our mission. I am so grateful to all of you who are  striving eagerly to live our vision statement. Our vision statement describes the things we do to fulfill our mission. Its phrases are the pieces of the puzzle that come together to form the picture, for us, of what parish life looks like. I am grateful to be on this journey with you and to share in the labor, this magnificent work of the kingdom. 

Blessings & Tailwinds,
Fr. Wilson