My Dear Parish Family,
Our parish mission, discerned by the Pastoral Council in conjunction with leadership about five years ago, is “building up the Body of Christ.” In other words, we exist to build up the Church in our corner of the world.
That adventure begins with us following our Lord with all our heart, centering our lives on the Gospel, and being a light to those in darkness. We are challenged to live in hope and spread the joy of the Good News.
That adventure continues when we in turn make disciples, or form others in the faith. Not just the task of “professionals,” but the invitation for every Christ follower. Share the joy of the Gospel, the reason for the hope that lies within us! This first begins at home, handing on the faith to the next generation, right in our families. I am so grateful for family faith formation that we began here a few years ago, giving our families the opportunity to grow in the faith and nurture their faith together. This key aspect of parish life extends to preparing young people for Confirmation, our Youth Ministry, Small Groups, and OCIA (the process of coming into full communion with the Church, even embracing the faith for the first time). Sometimes called the Great Commission, making disciples is at the heart of what it means to be church (see Mt 28:16-20).
If you form others in the faith, please consider the Hope in Our Hearts Conference, a beautiful opportunity to grow in faith and in skills, and a wonderful work of the Diocese of Trenton supporter by the Annual Catholic Appeal. Your support of the appeal makes efforts like this possible. Thank you!
This adventure of building up the Church extends to seeking out the lost, looking for the sheep on the hillside wandering and searching (see Lk 15). With Augustine, we recognize that “our hearts are restless until they rest in God,” and we know what it feels like when we did not have God in our lives, and so we seek to offer the Gospel (good news) to those who may not even know they long to hear it. Do you have a heart for those who have not yet come to know Jesus?
These three phrases: following the Lord, making disciples, and seeking out the lost form part of the key activities of our parish vision statement:
As members of one body, we strive eagerly to follow the Lord, make disciples, seek out the lost, love our neighbor, share fellowship and above all worship God.
We see these phrases as key aspects of our work; we can also use them to discern if or how an effort is worth pursuing. How does X build up the Body of Christ? How does it fit with the program?
The Pastoral Council has begun to take the next step in discerning and crafting a Strategic Plan which will serve as a kind of road map for us over the next season of our collective life together. We have named three strategic goals that we feel are pivotal to our parish flourishing: secure the future (campus and finances), grow community (welcoming outward focus), and deepen the faith (grow our relationship with God and neighbor.)
That is all I have room to share with you for now but stay tuned for some more vision casting as we serve in ministry together!
God bless,
Fr. Joel
