Search
-
As you know, on June 2nd at 6:30 pm at St. Vitus Church, we will discuss all the findings of our feasibility study and present a plan for the future of our parish. A pastoral plan always involves a practical plan. But there is also always a danger. In all four Gospels, Jesus performed a miracle that fed thousands on a meager few barley loaves and a couple of fish. He took care of the practical and material needs of the people while at the same time pointing them to a far more important spiritual reality.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of the people focused on the material and failed to be open to the far greater gift of the spiritual! Please join me in praying that we will not make the same mistake that they did. Let us all encourage and help one another to remind ourselves that the material gifts we are blessed to possess are always at the service of our spiritual well-being. Our practical plan has to be at the service of our pastoral plan. This can be very challenging if we are too attached to the material, do not have the courage to let go and attach to the spiritual which is ultimately eternal.
We all have to realize at this point in time that we are unable to maintain all of our 59 parcels of property and 29 buildings, including 7 churches. Although we may all realize it, it is still painful when the actual reality has come to pass. I am sure many of you have had the same experience as I have with a dying loved one. We know that their time has come to pass from this life to the next, and yet, when it actually happens, we are still cut to the heart with grief and pain. The leadership of the parish and those involved in our feasibility study have for a long time now been dealing with these realities. We are certainly in a different place emotionally than most of you. I know that. I also know that it will take time for all of you to sit with this news and allow yourself to emotionally adjust to the reality. As St. Francis de Sales said many years ago, “The same Lord who has seen us through past challenges and difficulties is present with us now to see us through the present one.” Trusting in our Lord, his divine providence and his grace, the parish of Holy Spirit will indeed adjust to our present situation and flourish as we have in the past! For we walk by faith and not by sight. We are challenged to live the words of St. Paul who says, “I can do all things in Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
We can face our future with great hope and optimism because this is not a human journey. This is a divine plan. Not ours, but God’s. We trust in his holy spirit to lead and guide us as he leads and guides the Church Universal. History has shown that we have not always made the best decisions or the right decisions. But when the church has had the courage to face even criticism and suffering to do what in her heart she knew is the will of God, she has always triumphed in miraculous ways!
We have enormous blessings, spiritual and material. We are the second largest parish in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. We are all living through very challenging times locally and globally. But we are all up to the challenge because our citizenship is not here but in the kingdom of God. And so, we once again
recommit ourselves to keep the main thing, the main thing.
Holy Spirit Parish strives to Know Christ, love Christ, serve Christ, and invite others to Christ through Word, Sacrament, and Sacrifice!
God love you,
