The Day of the Lord

Dear Friends in Christ,

            I trust you had a blessed and joy-filled Thanksgiving Day celebration with your family and friends.  Besides the family tradition of splitting wood for the fireplace and raking leaves with Dad and some of my siblings, we continued our long-standing tradition of going around the table after dinner and sharing words of thankfulness for the blessings of the past year.  Please know that I am most grateful for the witness of lived faith I see in you, the parishioners of St. Joseph Church & School.  Over the past year, I have seen this faith lived out through the Sacrament of Matrimony, Baptism, First Holy Communion, Confirmation, and the sacraments of healing in Confession and the Anointing of the Sick.  I have also witnessed powerful expressions of faith in God the Father’s mercy and the hope of eternal life through the many funeral Masses we offer here at St. Joseph. 

           I am also grateful for all those who have given of their time, talent, and treasure over the past year.  You will find in this week’s bulletin a letter from our Pastoral Leadership Team, as well as a financial summary in the form of pie charts, both for Fiscal Year 2023, as well as a budget summary for the current fiscal year, which began on July 1^st.  As the largest ministry of our parish, our school operates on a separate budget, driven by tuition.  You can find a summary of our school’s finances as well in this week’s bulletin.  While asking for money is one of the least favorite things pastors must do, it is unavoidable and essential to the operating of both our church and school.  To that end, I thank all those who have already made a three-year pledge to our capital campaign:  Building on the Past, with Hope for the Future, and I ask all those who have not to prayerfully consider doing so.  We hope to conclude this campaign by the end of the year!

          As many of you read this weekly column on Fridays, whether through our weekly Flocknote or on our website, I want to invite you to attend our 12:30 pm Mass on Sunday, as we celebrate our annual Christ the King Mass with various languages of our parish represented in the Universal Prayer, with music provided by not one, but two choirs of the African Catholic Community of St. Joseph.  This Mass is being organized by the African Catholic Community of St. Joseph, which is one of our many parish ministries.  I am grateful that Fr. Felix helped to organize this new choir and offer some song selections from his home country of Nigeria.  Speaking of music, I want to share with you a song I wrote this past summer and recorded with our Sunday worship team.  This new song, which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1r4XVaN87I  is titled “The Day of the Lord,” and is inspired by the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, and the Gospel reading from Matthew, which speaks of the Lord’s Second Coming and the judgment that will follow.

Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus!