A Letter From Our Pastor: We Provide the Gifts God Performs the Miracles

My Dear Sisters and Brothers,

As we journey deeper into summer, a look back and a look forward.

During June, we focused on the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. With adoration at the end of every Mass and time spent in quiet prayer, we wanted to emphasize the importance of making a commitment to 24/7 adoration in our parish. We were not merely looking to fill the slots, but rather to transform our parish evermore in the image and likeness of Jesus Christ. If you have not done so, please pray about making a commitment to one hour a week in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. Not only will it enrich your life, but it will also deepen the faith life of our community. We all need deeper trust, hope, and joy as we face the challenges before us.

After being unable to do so for the past few years, will celebrate “Mass on the Grass” on July 17, at 5 p.m. Please join us for Mass and the picnic afterward. This is an opportunity for us to grow in fellowship as a community of faith. Every time we have done this in the past, it always reminded me about one of Jesus’ most incredible miracles, feeding the multitude — physically and spiritually. Have you ever noticed how the two are always tied together?

The reason the large crowd gathered was that Jesus’ reputation as a healer had spread and grown. He felt compassion for that crowd, which is another way of saying He loved them and felt sorry that they were hungry due to their willingness to sit and be with Him for so long. Recognizing it was late in the day and that many of them had not eaten, Jesus literally fed them — but that day, He did not stop with physical nourishment. He also fed them spiritually with His words, and simultaneously, healed their wounded hearts by preaching a message of hope and forgiveness amid a dark and hardened world.

The narrative of Christ taking a small amount of food and using it to feed thousands is familiar to all of us and is recorded in all four Gospels. I would like to highlight one aspect of that miracle. It all started with one boy who was willing to share what little he had. Because the boy made the gift of his fishes and loaves, the Lord took it and multiplied it many times over, nourishing so many more people than that little bit initially could. Is this not what we as a parish are called to do? We make gifts of our time, our talent, and our treasure as good stewards. Yet, it is God who takes those gifts, multiplies them, and performs miracles with what we offer. Our goal is to give what we have so that Christ might use it, multiplying it to feed, to heal, and draw a multitude of people closer to Him. The reality is that without the gifts, there can be no miracles, and without miracles, we are a hungry and broken people. Christ has come to renew, nourish, fulfill, and restore — and that is what Christianity is all about.

In Christ, through the intercession of Blessed Pier Giorgio, I love you.

Fr. Jim

Fr. Jim