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May 8, 2022
Celebrating Mother's Day & Holy Spirit Feasibility Study
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A very blessed Mother’s Day weekend to all the women of our parish. We honor our dear mothers, both living and deceased. We also honor all women who may not have borne a child physically but have nurtured life in others as a godmother, an adoptive parent, or a woman in religious life. For all of these amazing women in our world, we give thanks to God and ask His special blessings on them.
On August 8, 2011, my dear mother passed on to God. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of her, pray for her and pray to her. One of my deepest desires in life is to see her beautiful smile and hear her contagious laughter once again. This thought motivates me to be even more serious about my own salvation. I know my dear mother is with the Lord and I am praying the Lord in his mercy will grant me the great gift of being with her once again in his Kingdom!
Every human being b Holy Sporn in this world has a mother and father. Not everyone is blessed with good parents, however. For those of us who have been given this most precious gift, not only of life, but also of loving parents, let us give thanks to God. Let us also be very sensitive to those who have not been blessed in the same way. May we do what we can, given whatever
opportunities arise, to serve the less fortunate. Being a mother or father figure to another human being is the most noble vocation.
I have always been in awe of those adoptive parents who desire to love and freely give of themselves. I believe the song by Randy Travis entitled I Will Raise Him Up is a beautiful reflection on St. Joseph as the foster father of Christ. And also of the Resurrection. I invite you to listen to the song sometime this week. I am sure that you will be inspired as I have been.
On this Mother's Day weekend, it is appropriate for me to announce to you that at 6:30 pm on June 2nd at St. Vitus Church, I will share with you the results of our Feasibility Study. This presentation will be recorded and livestreamed from St. Vitus. Fr. John B. Gizler III, VE, our Regional Vicar; Dr. Linda L. Ritzer, DMin, Secretary for Parish Services; Desmond Architects who performed the study together with Jerry Horn Construction as well as members of our Pastoral Council and our Finance Council will attend. All of our properties have been thoroughly examined. Given our current situation and projecting into the future, we are now poised to recommend to Bishop Zubik what properties we must let go of and what properties we need to keep. Of course, this is a very painful and difficult situation and decision. But it is a decision we must make. The facts and realities help to make it clear what we must do, also remembering what our goal is as a parish, to live the faith and pass the faith on to the next generation. Congratulations to our 90 children who have made their First Holy Communion this month. They are a reminder to all of us of our ultimate goal. All of our material goods are at the service of this goal. They can never be a goal in and of themselves.
I look forward to this opportunity for us to finally review everything we have discovered and put forth a plan for the future. Prayer is an essential part of our decision process. We rely on God’s wisdom and guidance. We pray that the Holy Spirit will enlighten our minds and hearts to do His will and not our own. It is very clear that we must act and we must have a clear path forward. My hope is that by the end of the evening, we will have accomplished that goal. Of course, not everyone will be pleased, but keeping the main thing, the main thing will help all of us remember that doing the will of Christ is our quest and our joy!
God love you,
