News - December 2022

Six months have flown by and suddenly it is my first Christmas with you as your pastor. You are a remarkable parish, with a generous heart, and a “can do” spirit I greatly admire. I feel fortunate to have landed here among you. My Christmas prayers for you are, first, that you and your family are healthy and spared the many viruses of winter. I also pray for your souls; for your spiritual well being. I humbly ask for your prayers, that I may be a good and loyal pastor to you. A small Christmas poem for your enjoyment ...

Our Secular Franciscans are gathering gloves to give to the homeless, and I promised them that I would help promote that cause. If you would, consider buying a pair of gloves and bringing them with you to Sunday Mass. Apparently, most of the homeless wear two pair of gloves, a light weight glove and heavier glove over that. So any type of glove will be appreciated. Advent is a great season during which we should do small acts of charity.

The plan of God to rescue the world from the tyrant of sin and darkness included perfect timing for Jesus to be born. In the decades before the birth of Jesus, the world adjacent to the Jews was plagued by war and piracy. The Mediterranean Sea was a very unsafe place to travel. Thus the flow of goods and ideas was hampered. Rome was beginning to establish its authority across Europe Africa and the Middle East, but Rome was restrained by civil wars and rebellions against its influence in the East.