The Spirit of
St. Louis @
October / November 2017
The mission of St. Louis King of France Catholic Church is uniting God’s people in the Sacraments, stewarding His generosity, and evangelizing the community. I’m sure you’ve noticed the recent facility upgrades at St. Louis King of France Catholic Church. There’s air conditioning in the gym. The priests moved off campus to the new rectory. The church offices left the old convent and the original church and moved into the new office building, which was the old rectory. The school offices have relocated to the old parish offices, which was the old convent. Are you keeping up? Recently there was another change. It was subtle and easy to miss but quite possibly more important than all the facility upgrades mentioned above. Last month, the Pastoral Council gathered to review and modify the Parish’s mission statement. The previous mission statement has served the parish well and was the foundation for the new one. The task was two-fold:
We come to him first through our baptism then through confirmation. His grace is poured out through the Eucharist and heals us through Reconciliation. His grace anoints us when we are sick and provides a foretaste of His heavenly banquet through Marriage and Holy Orders. We are a sacramental people.
1. Evaluate the existing mission statement, asking ourselves if it still guides our parish in the way we think it ought. 2. 13 words. We wanted the mission statement to be short enough that it could be committed to memory, making it all the easier to be a guiding principle.
Part 3: Evangelizing the community The Sacramental life is not truly sacramental if it does not bear fruit. With the grace he has poured out upon us through the Sacraments and through the awareness of his immense generosity, we must go forth and shout his mercy and love at the top of our voices. Our faith must lead us to love of neighbor, love of community, and as St. Bernard states, a deep love for his beloved creation: ourselves. The St. Louis community is alive when we participate in the sacramental life, give freely of the gifts we have received, and go forth sharing the love with our brothers and sisters. We pray this new Mission Statement will guide us as we continue forward with the New Evangelization.
Part 1: Uniting God’s people in the Sacraments When all is said and done we are a Catholic community, a universal community bounded by the desire to know and love Jesus Christ. We are a sacramental community because it is through the Sacramental life that we experience His grace. And it is His grace that unites as one…….His bride, His beloved, His joy.
Part 2: Stewarding His generosity His grace compels us to go forth and pour out the gifts we have received—freely and without reservation—for he has been so generous to us. We have all received many gifts born forth from the Sacramental grace poured upon us, material gifts, spiritual gifts, and the gift of our own talents. He calls us to use them and use them often.