Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, 

His Church, and All People

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Merry Christmas and Happy Feast of the Epiphany! 

Blessed be God who is born unto us!  Don’t be afraid to continue celebrating the Christmas Season and saying, Merry Christmas,” and “Happy Epiphany!” Leave the tree up and prepare for the coming of the Magi.  Speaking of the wise men, our wise men in the narthex arrive at the manger this weekend!  

This year we will celebrate the annual Epiphany Water blessing this Sunday January 5 @ 6pm.  You may bring your own water to be blessed, but containers must be at least 1 gallon and its lid must be easily opened. You may bring other items to be blessed as well - salt, oil, religious articles etc. Also, smaller individual bottles will be made available to all parishioners the next weekend (one per family).

Adoration after Masses this Weekend!

Being the first weekend of the month, we will have our customary time of adoration after Holy Communion at Masses this weekend.   What a great way to begin this new year and celebrate the Epiphany.  Christ is the light to the nations.  May our time in His Eucharistic Presence enflame His light in our hearts to go forth and preach the Good News!

New Year Resolutions

This season is often a time for renewal and appropriately so.  A month ago, I gave the parish status and financial report. I thank everyone for their continued generosity.  I asked at the time for parishioners to consider a 10% increase in offertory contributions to help us keep up with inflation and grow the good works happening here.  For those who have already started this thank you!  Others perhaps are taking time to discern, and perhaps this new year celebration is a good time to make the resolution for a greater offertory sacrifice.   Any questions or if you are interested in online giving, please call Jeanne at rectory.    

Our Patronal Feast!

January is a full month of celebration for our parish.   The official liturgical ending of the Christmas season is January 12, but customarily there are a full 40 days of Christmas taking us to the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (Candlemas) on February 2.  Thus, we keep our decorations up for a while, which also helps us celebrate our patronal parish feast day, the Conversion of St. Paul (January 25).  As we have in the past, we will celebrate St. Paul at all the Masses on the weekend of January. 25-26.  There will be extra opportunities for prayer, adoration, and even a reception.  More details next week!

May God bless you and Mary keep you.

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Pfr