Pastoral Messages from Fr. Rick 7-30-20
Fr. Rick’s Pastoral Messages for 7-30-20
1/ Marriage and Eucharist: Please take some time to consider the resources recently placed on the St. Christopher’s website concerning the Sacrament of Matrimony, Natural Family Planning, the definition of ‘sex’ proffered by the Supreme Court as well as my homily for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time. I will try to assess the level of interest and enthusiasm in these subjects before moving on in our pastoral planning and religious formation efforts. Since most Catholics are married, this approach to the spousal themes that run all through our tradition should be especially interesting. Let me know your interest in further study and discussion.
2/ The Office of the Bishop and the Office of Stewardship and Development from the Diocese of Salt Lake City have partnered to make a focused appeal for all parishioners to practice our much needed stewardship in these very challenging times. See the Bishop’s statement on our website and help as you can. “NOW MORE THAN EVER” Please consider a first time or additional gift as is possible. Sometimes it might be easy think that because we are 300 miles away from the Diocesan Pastoral Center that we do not receive many benefits from the Diocese. However, consider that our resident priest receives a pension that is managed and organized by employees and ministers of the Diocese. We receive incalculable services for administrative expertise in maintaining a sound financial condition, a safe premises, compliance with personnel regulations as well as maintaining adequate insurance coverage. Grant writers at the Diocese helped to procure substantial funding for the renovation of our church. If you could only contribute $1 or $5 it would show that you recognize the collective nature of our Church mission and the larger implications of Stewardship. Bless you!!
3/ Thank you for keeping in touch with each other and maintaining a strong aspect of community love and support even in our somewhat limiting situation. As always, if anyone would like to talk to me personally for any reason, leave a message at the parish office and I will get in touch with you pronto.
ALSO, please know that priests and other ministers and employees of the Church need to maintain appropriate levels of confidentiality concerning the medical condition of parishioners we serve. Although asking us about ‘how someone is doing’ might seem like the most natural thing to do, in many cases our answers will have to be very vague. Since we are a tiny community in a small town it’s better to just call the person whose condition you’re interested in. We should all know each other as members of the Body of Christ and especially now we should be more conscientious about keeping in touch.