Pastor’s Letter: April 14th, 2024
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Whenever this line is used in the scriptures “The God of Abraham, the God of Issac, and the God of Jacob,” it refers to a God who is personal. In the Easter narratives, we hear how Jesus personally encounters his disciples and unfolds the scriptures to their lives. The Gospel reading takes place after Jesus encountering two disciples on the road to Emmaus and they were relating their encounter to the other disciples and how they recognized Jesus in the breaking of bread. Once again in His encounter with his disciples in His resurrected state, Jesus begins with the greeting “Peace be with you.” By how Jesus greeted His disciples, Jesus wants us to know once again how He personally wants to encounter our lives – not through force or fear but by His loving encounter that invites us to come to Him. The offering of the Cross is the ultimate act of God’s love. By how God fought evil with love, it tells us that there is nothing that would prevent us from God’s love.
Next weekend, we celebrate First Communion with the Second Graders at St John Vianney. We celebrated with our First Communicants at Mary Our Queen last Sunday. Congratulations are in order. We would like to thank all our teachers and catechists for guiding them to this day. Please keep them in your prayers.
Work will begin on the playground at Mary Our Queen this coming week with the removal of the rubber mulch and preparation of the grounds for the poured surfacing rubber. The work should be completed in about a month. Installation of new slides will also occur during this process. In the meantime, please do not use the playground during this period. There will be caution tape around the area.
Because of your generosity to the Capital Campaign at St John Vianney and Mary Our Queen, we are able to pay down our debt at St John Vianney and to defray the cost of the roof replacement. We are also able to pay for the replacement of the mechanicals at Mary Our Queen. Through the Capital Campaign of Mary Our Queen, we were also able to start a new scholarship fund for Mary Our Queen School in honor of our Founding Pastor Msgr. Kenny. The scholarship fund will be used to assist active parishioners who need tuition assistance. Msgr Kenny and our founding members made a lot of sacrifices to ensure that our school was available for all who desire a Catholic Education and this scholarship continues in the spirit of our founding Pastor. More details of this scholarship will be made available in the near future. If you would like to contribute to this scholarship fund, kindly contact our Parish Office.
As many of you are aware, I have been having health issues over the past few weeks. Although I have tried various treatments, surgery is inevitable. Please keep me in your prayers.
Easter Blessings to all of you.
Fr Marc