Welcome to the New Fiscal Year
Welcome to the month of July, which begins our new fiscal year, 2023. I thank God for His blessings and protection through the fiscal year. My special thanks to everyone for your financial support for our parish through the year. The Finance Council met last week and approved the 2023 budget. I will present our annual finance and pastoral reports to you by September/October this year.
Happy Fourth of July
I wish you and your family a Happy Independence Day on July fourth this weekend! Despite the current tension rising from the spiteful political campaigns we see on television, street protests and economic challenges due to inflation, the fourth of July celebration is a constant reminder that the labor of our past heroes will never be in vain. What binds us as one nation is stronger than what divides us. Let us remember to pray this weekend for all who work for peace, unity and justice in our country.
Thank you for the Information Meeting
I would like to thank all those who attended the Parish Information Meeting on Tuesday this week. Your questions and suggestions were very helpful as we work together to strengthen our strategic plans for our Church construction and funding. My special thanks to the Building committee, the Finance Council and staff for the wonderful presentations during the meeting. Moving forward, we are looking at holding more information meetings to give you updates of the construction and to answer your questions. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to have a one to one meeting with me so I can share more information with you regarding the state of our parish and school community.
Congratulations to our Priests on their Anniversaries
Congratulations to Fr Wilfred and Fr Manasseh who celebrated their anniversary of priestly ordination this week. Fr Manasseh celebrated his 12th anniversary on June 26th and Fr Wilfred celebrated his 10th anniversary on June 30th. I also thank God that I am looking forward to celebrating my 18th anniversary on July 3rd, God willing.
The Post Roe V Wade Commitment
We thank God for granting our prayers with the overturning of the With Roe V Wade by the Supreme Court. Thank you too for your relentless prayers and support for Pro-Life. Now that Roe v Wade is behind us, the question many people are asking is, “What is next?” First of all, while we rejoice that many innocent lives will now be saved and protected, I caution everyone not to engaged in a “winners vs losers” argument or to humiliate people who disagree with our belief in respect for life. Let us also not underestimate the new level and direction the culture of death may go as we move forward.
The Church invites us to step up our commitment to protect and respect human lives from conception to natural death. Here is what the US Bishops are inviting us to do: “Now is the time to begin the work of building a post-Roe America. It is a time for healing wounds and repairing social divisions; it is a time for reasoned reflection and civil dialogue, and for coming together to build a society and economy that supports marriages and families, and where
every woman has the support and resources she needs to bring her child into this world in love. As religious leaders, we pledge ourselves to continue our service to God’s great plan of love for the human person, and to work with our fellow citizens to fulfill America’s promise to guarantee the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all people.”