Happy New Year!
May the words of St. Jane de Chantal help you with your New Year's resolutions: "Let us begin this New Year in the name of our Lord. Let us recommit ourselves to serving God and one another faithfully, especially in small simple ways."
December was a very busy month, and January will be full of activities.
This month is a celebration of St. Francis de Sales and our Salesian Family. St Francis de Sales founded a religious Order of nuns - The Visitation Sisters of Holy Mary. They are celebrating 400 years since they were founded! St. Francis de Sales died before he could form a religious Order of men. In 1875, Fr. Louis Brisson formed the Oblates, based on the spirituality of Frances de Sales. The Vatican just made Fr. Brisson as venerable - one more miracle and hewill be named a saint! January 24 is Francis de Sales feast day - a day of celebration of his spirituality.
We will be hosting a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. on January 14, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.. Local churches will participate in the week long memorial for Martin Luther King, Jr.. The Catholic Church worked and marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., so we will keep those ties in mind as we remember King and the inspiration of his legacy.
We are in the last phase of Diocesan self study. We are at the point of looking at our needs, with goals and objectives to achieve them. The council and commission chairs - as well as anyone else - will ist our needs without regards to expense. (Kind of a wish list for the future.) That meeting will be on Wednesday, January 13, after the 6:00 p.m. Mass.
You may notice that we are installing new locks and fixing the doors in the Hall and Church. I ask for your patience as keys will be distributed as the need arises. This is all part of our stewardship - maintaining our facilities and keeping them in good working order.
Finally, a very important date, January 30th - MY BIRTHDAY!! Keep praying for me and supporting me as we move into the future together.
Fr. Jim