Pastor’s Corner — November 17th, 2024
Trip to Brazil
Special thanks to everyone who prayed for me and my trip to Brazil. All week we were ministering to clergy and laity from covenant communities from all over Brazil from our home base at the Alliance of Mercy Community in Sao Paulo. Almost no one spoke English and my broken Spanish didn’t get me very far. We did some healing services in which there were incredible testimonies of healings for sure, but for most of the time we did a lot of teaching. To put it simply: I must say that this was the best ministry trip of my life. I say that not only because the Lord poured out his love and mercy upon the people there in tremendous ways, but also because of what we witnessed of the Church there.
The hunger, thirst and zeal for God we witnessed was so powerful that it was almost overwhelming to me at times. In particular, the singing in praise of God at Mass and how they loved one another was on a whole other level. As a part of my work with Encounter, I work around a lot of Church renewal circles and I must say that there is something very special happening in that country, particularly in these communities. This was a trip that I’ll never forget, even if I may go back there for follow up at some point in the future.
S3 Campaign Update: (34% of our Parish Goal)
Just a reminder to prayerfully consider filling out your pledge card and/or call back your parish volunteer. Our final date for this campaign, a date by which we hope everyone can make a pledge is December 7th-8th weekend. As of this weekend we are at $1,001,800 (34%) of our parish goal of $2,960,000. Thanks again for your generosity!
Sharing Your Faith with Confidence: November 20th at 7pm
Given that we all have a call to share the gospel, what is an effective way of doing that with our family or friends? What do you say to them that might help them consider faith in Jesus, or come to Church?
This week there is a workshop on how to share our faith with simplicity and joy with those around us. The “Sharing Your Faith with Confidence” workshop is led and taught by the Priests of our local Parish grouping: St Patrick’s, Old St Patrick’s, Holy Spirit and St Mary’s. I’ll be doing the main teaching. The event will be held on Wednesday, November 20th at 7pm at Holy Spirit Catholic Church. Hope to see you there!
Deacon Josh’s Integrating Seminar: November 30th
Before he graduates and is ordained a priest, each seminarian deacon must do what’s called an integrating practicum. The purpose of this practicum is to integrate his theological and pastoral formation by developing a presentation on a relevant topic in the Church. The seminarian submits their presentation to their professor, presents it in class, and then presents it at a parish. Because of the research that goes into these topics, they usually are well done.
Since Deacon Josh is assigned here in the last year of his formation, he is going to do his integrating practicum here at St Pat’s. His topic is Breaking Sinful Habits and Addictions, in which he will teach us how to use the physical, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of habits and addictions to grow in freedom. For more information see the parish event page.