A Letter from Fr. Paul - January 27, 2019

The Invitation will be mailed early this week. Please note the survey on our parish community. I would appreciate it if you would fill it out, either on paper or online. Details and a paper copy are in The Invitation.

I thank all who contributed to the diocesan Catholic Stewardship appeal last year. This annual appeal supports services that St. Pius X uses frequently. The 2019 appeal will begin with a presentation by our parish leader, Holly Cartier, at Masses this coming weekend. Watch for the mailing that will come shortly from the diocese. Please support this appeal.

Mark your calendars: The Formation and Evangelization Commission will sponsor an hour reflection/adoration for Lent, as it did in Advent, on Tuesday evening, March 12. Child care will be provided. More details will follow, but please plan on taking advantage of this opportunity to enter Lent in a quiet, prayerful way.

Our reading from Luke this weekend presents Jesus proclaiming the purpose of His ministry in His hometown of Nazareth. He will be concerned with the poor, the blind, the captive, and the oppressed. And of course, as His followers, we have to do the same.

To be truly concerned about those in need is not easy, especially in a consumeristic society that multiplies “needs,” while advocating individualism and taking care of self and family before all else. That is why we need our faith community, as our first two readings remind us. In the first reading, the shattered community that has just returned from exile listens to the entire law being read out loud before recommitting themselves, as a community, to be Yahweh’s people. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds us that we are all part of the Body of Christ and must work together for the good of all.

It is crucial that we come together as a community to worship, that we work side by side to help those in need, that we support each other in prayer.

I invite us to reflect this week on what a gift our community here at St. Pius is, resolving to be as supportive as possible through, presence, involvement, and prayer.

​-- Paul James Portland, SDS