Pastoral Messages from Fr. Rick 11-21-21
Fr. Rick’s Pastoral Messages 11-21-21
Thanksgiving Mass will be held at the regular 8:00 AM time this Thursday.
Adoration of the Blesses Sacrament will not be held this Thursday on Thanksgiving Day. See you next Thursday from 4:00 to 5:00 PM.
New Lighting – We have completed another phase of LED installations in the parish office, library, downstairs meeting room and pastor’s office. This project has been planned for several months and was completed at a cost of approximately $2400. Further lighting upgrades are anticipated for the kitchen and eventually other meeting rooms downstairs. The parish currently has about $70,000 in non-designated funds in our savings and checking accounts.
Attention Knights of Columbus: Roundtable Knights will be meeting in the Social Hall library on Sunday, November 28th following the Mass. Any men interested in learning what the Knight’s do for St. Christopher Parish, are invited to come to this meeting.
Offering Envelopes – Your personal offering envelopes will be ready for pickup next Saturday and Sunday after Mass in the gathering space.
Whose KINGDOM is it? As we approach the end of the liturgical year we are hearing the Scriptures which speak of the ‘end times’. We are reminded of the best part of the Good News – that Jesus Christ is Lord of Heaven and Earth and the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church until the end of time. The next couple weeks might be a good time to share this great news with those most close to you whether they are practicing Catholics or not. Do they believe it? Do you believe it? What is the most compelling evidence that the power of evil has been overcome by the death and resurrection of Jesus? Write down some of the responses you receive. This could be a very good element of our Synodal gatherings.
Synod – FROM U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops
The Synod on Synodality is a two-year process of listening and dialogue beginning with a solemn opening in Rome on October 9 and 10, 2021 with each individual diocese and church celebrating the following week on October 17. The synodal process will conclude in 2023.
Pope Francis invites the entire Church to reflect on a theme that is decisive for its life and mission: “It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium.” This journey, which follows in the wake of the Church’s “renewal” proposed by the Second Vatican Council, is both a gift and a task: by journeying together and reflecting together on the journey that has been made, the Church will be able to learn through Her experience which processes can help Her to live communion, to achieve participation, to open Herself to mission.
Each parish will have to determine how we might participate in this process and invite others within and without the parish to be included if they desire. There will be specific themes offered to help us guide whatever discussion might ensue. Topics include: Dialogue in Church and Society; Ecumenism; Authority and Participation; Discerning and Deciding; and others. I think that our Open Door Saturdays might serve to accomplish much of our outreach to the wider Kanab community.
Check out these websites for any assistance in sharing your excitement about the Kingship of Jesus Christ:
Virtual Catholic Apologetic Conference: https://go.virtualcatholicconference.com/PWA2021
The free version expires Saturday evening, but you can purchase a premium pass to watch the content for weeks to come.
FREE SEX TALK!: In case your friends and relatives have abandoned the Church because of Her teachings about human sexuality, and YOU believe that Jesus is King and He established the Catholic Church, then you might want to become very familiar with these websites:
Theology of the Body: https://www.tobpatron.com/virtual-retreat & https://tobinstitute.org/
Chastity Project: https://chastity.org/
Climate and other Social Thought
Catholic Climate Covenant: https://catholicclimatecovenant.org/
Younger Catholic Voices at Georgetown U. https://catholicsocialthought.georgetown.edu/
Catholic Charities and Social Policy socialpolicy@catholiccharitiesusa.org