Pastoral Messages from Fr. Rick 6-25-20

Pastoral Messages from Fr. Rick – June 25, 2020

1/ First of all thank you so much for your faithful support of St. Christopher’s Parish while we continue through all the unknowns and variables of Corona World.  It makes our lives much easier when we can pay our bills and prepare for future expenses.

2/ Also, thank you for keeping in touch with each other in the absence of our regular parish gatherings.  It’s my sense that all our parishioners are connected with a variety of local people within and without the parish community, so that makes all the difference.  As always if anyone would like to talk to me personally, please don’t hesitate to call.  If you leave a message at the office, I will get back with you in very short order.

3/ This from the Diocese: 

Sharing the Principles of Catholic Social Teaching:

Parishes and other Catholic organizations are encouraged to share the Church’s teaching on the relationships between Christian faith and political life. The Church’s teaching on political responsibility, human life, human rights, and justice and peace need to be shared more widely and effectively. The Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship statement, bulletin insert, and other materials at www.faithfulcitizenship.org are useful for developing educational programs.

Catholic Social Teaching is another major block of Catholic formation and education we will be offering at St. Christopher’s as part of our pastoral planning process.  Since our morality is a big part of our participation in public life, I hope everyone will be very interested in understanding the biblical and theological foundations of our social involvement and positions. 

4/ If you have not yet made a pledge toward the Annual Bishop’s Appeal (aka the Diocesan Development Drive), please do so as you are able.  The Diocese will be facing the severe funding challenges as most other entities in these trying times, so we at St. Christopher’s want to play our part as we have in the past.   So far we have pledged $5,155 toward our goal of $8,725.  $3,815 has been paid in with 11 donors total participating.  Thank you in advance.

5/ Thanks so much for all who have participated on our 8-session study of Salvation History.  Each week we average about 12-15 participants between the two meeting periods.  I always learn and/or remember a lot in these studies and am always greatly edified by the participants.  This is a great way to get more connected with each other on a much deeper level.  Next week will be our final sessions and then a new topic will be introduced.