Fr. Nate's Letter - January 19, 2025

With Fr. Simon’s return, I was hoping that you would be spared of having me write again in this portion of the bulletin. One thing I certainly learned while Fr. Simon was away was how many different things fall on the pastor’s plate. I only experienced a portion of those things, and when he asked as “a favor” if I would occasionally write the bulletin article for him, I couldn’t say no (though I did try to convince him otherwise)! 
 
Every January there is a week in the Church calendar devoted in a special way to praying for unity among Christians. Like anyone else, I had heard of this before, but didn’t give it too much thought. However, experiencing this particular week in the Holy Land one year certainly gave me some important reminders and a unique perspective. The resident Christian community is a very small minority in the Holy Land, though at the time I was there, many from around the world who professed faith in Jesus Christ would come to visit. What was emphasized in that little community during this particular week was the acknowledgement that in spite of their differences, each person hoped to draw on the basic principle of professing love for Jesus Christ, ‘to put on the mind of Christ.’ 
 
Many who profess to be Christians are at different points in that journey, and you and I have the blessing of the Sacraments to aid us in this process. So many issues come into play when those who profess to be Christian forget that ‘putting on the mind of Christ’ is their goal. History tells many a tale where this mindset has been forgotten and, sadly, there can be many devastating and humiliating reminders of the effects of this omission. At the same time, when you consider if ‘putting on the mind of Christ’ is and was the goal of the Christian people, what a force of good that could be in our world. 
This week many of the children are off of school and various offices are closed to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The role that people of faith played in accomplishing some of the things that are celebrated in his legacy cannot be ignored. Recognizing that each and every human being is created in the image and likeness of God, people of faith were a real force in bringing about some of the significant changes that took place in our society. For some of us, we only read about these things in history books, but others actually lived through them. What a force for good the Christian people can be if they are unified in striving to think and act as Jesus would.
 
This brings us to another observance this week. Each year on January 22^nd the Bishops of the United States ask all people of goodwill to observe “a day of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life and of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion.” As you and I know, the unborn, who are the most vulnerable of our society, seek to find a voice in so many good people of faith. Would that people of faith were united in promoting respect for the beautiful gift of life, in all its stages, that God has given. If we continually seek to put on the mind of Christ, we can be, and we will be, keeping that love for the Lord at the center of our lives.
 
One of the prayers at Mass on the day we celebrate all the good things that we have received as a country from the Lord says, “for what has been achieved we give you thanks, for the work that still remains, we ask your help.” This is certainly our prayer in each of these important observances. 
 
Wishing you all God’s blessings this week! Keeping you in prayer, and you can keep saying one for me. (Even though I’m not the administrator anymore, I am still very grateful for those prayers!)
 
- Fr. Nate