Dear Friends,
We have reached another milestone in our parish's young history. This weekend is our parish's very first festival! Unlike many festivals, which are geared toward raising funds for the church, our goal is simply to provide an experience where we can all come together as one family to celebrate our unity and fraternal love. After all, a church community should unite us as one in Christ our Lord.
Our festival promises a little something for everyone. Among the activities featured will be music and dancing presented by various groups. There will be obstacle courses for the older youth, as well as games, face painting, and caricature drawings for younger children. We’ll have a volleyball court set up and horseshoes for the more competitive types. As is typical, there will be plenty of BBQ, drinks, and desserts for all!
It is good for us to get together to celebrate our life together in Christ. These events help us to get to know each other better and foster a deeper appreciation for one another. One of the things that the Book of Acts points out about the early Christian communities is that non-Christians noticed how the members of these communities loved one another. Hopefully, people will say the same about us as we celebrate life!
During this month of October, we are celebrating Right to Life month. In some way, our festival gathering is a celebration of life. The Church has always regarded life as something sacred and as having inestimable value. From conception to natural death, life is beautiful. Despite the hardship and pain we often endure, life is good, because it is given to us by God. Our task is to safeguard life and to ensure that those, whose quality of life is diminished, are aided through compassion and support.
Please help me pray for a greater respect for life in our society. We especially need to pray for those who are abused or treated with indignity and violence. We should also seek the elimination of pornography, which degrades the life and dignity of its victims. Finally, we ought to pray for the most vulnerable victims of a culture that has little regard for the unborn and those who are reaching the end of their years. May we strive to end abortion and euthanasia in our world.
As we engage in the effort to protect life in all its stages, we ought to also show love and compassion to all who have, for whatever reason, had an abortion. The Church is called to be reconciling and merciful. God's love and newness of life is for all people. Those who have participated in abortion frequently live with tremendous guilt. Jesus, through the Church, can bring liberation and love to those who are enslaved by guilt. There is nothing that God can't forgive.
I hope that this weekend will give us an opportunity to reach out to each other so that joy and healing may unite us all in Christ Jesus. Enjoy the day! God bless!
Fr. Paul
