Dear Friends in Christ,
The Gospel for this Sunday always reminds me of Thanksgiving. That is because this is the Gospel traditionally used for that special day. I feel like every day I am giving thanks to God for being part of this amazing parish. This is not to say I am not overwhelmed most days, I am. I am also starting to realize that we probably do need to look at planning and preparing for an associate pastor. Our growing pains are real in an office space that is too small and sharing a campus with the largest (and best) Catholic school in the archdiocese is not always easy. Keeping up with the pastoral needs of so many parishioners weighs on me and keeps me on my knees in prayer. I still believe I can make everyone happy and that leads to more unhappiness for me and others, but I’ll keep trying. The administrative burden and organization is always a challenge. Yet in all of this I am filled to overflowing in gratitude to God for Saint Katharine Drexel Parish!
This Saturday we celebrate a huge Confirmation class. Our new innovative Faith Formation program GIFT has started well. Our Pastoral Plan is out there and inspiring us to fulfill our mission led by the Holy Spirit. Our 6:00 PM Mass seems to be going great. We have lots of new liturgical ministers, hospitality, and greeters. We have new parishioners, who are excited to be here and growing in faith. We have a parish that is always open to trying new and creative things to help us all grow in community and love of the Lord. We have a great Pastoral Council. Our staff is truly awesome in all they do! We have lots of committees that are being more and more empowered in leadership. We have so many young people and young adults getting involved. I can go on and on. God is great and let us spend some time this weekend giving thanks!
Peace and love,
Fr. Matt
