Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I took some time over this past week to read through the booklet that tells all about the different ministries that we have here at the parish (I wasn’t going to ask you to do something that I wasn’t going to do myself) and I was amazed at the plethora of ways in which all of you make a difference! I once again want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for all that you do for this parish. I’ll reiterate what I think is so important for our faith lives, which is the idea that being Catholic means so much more than going to Mass on Sundays. Being Catholic is not something that we do, it is who we are! So too, being active in the parish and living our “Parish life” is not just one more thing that you do during the week, rather it is as vital and life giving as being a part of a family. So if over the past week you thought about, and even more important, prayer about what God is calling you to do to enter more deeply into parish life, let me say that I look forward to working with you and seeing how the Lord will use your gifts of time and talent to bring joy and faith to others, and also to see how the Lord will use this to help you to grow and to know His peace and joy in a greater way. And if you haven’t had the chance to look everything over yet, that’s ok too! There’s always this week! I think it can be helpful for us to keep in mind that everything we have, we’ve been given by God, and that He calls us to use our gifts and talents to always keep building up our community of Faith. God always has a beautiful plan for us, all we have to do is to say YES to His plan and to keep moving forward striving to do His will one day at a time and one step at a time! So this week let’s all keep saying yes to God in the big things and the little things, and let’s rejoice to see where He leads us.
Also, it's finally time for one of my favorite parts of the year, which is the first week of RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults). This is a class that will be meeting most Wednesday evenings at 7:00 from this Wednesday, October 3rd, through the Easter Vigil. If you or someone you know is interested in becoming Catholic, learning more about the Faith, or even if you're a Catholic who just want to deepen your faith then please come and invite others to be a part of this experience!
God Bless,
Fr. Romke