Dear Friends,
We have begun the New Year in right earnest. It is time for us now to get to work and we have too many things to catch up on. Here are a few:
“Faith without works is dead,” said James and rightly so. Catholics have always blended the two aspects of faith and work very well. Our parish has been committed to caring for our neighbors and community locally and outside of our walls too. On the 12th January we will be starting the work the wall raising, and of collaborating with the Faith Build Project to build a decent housing for Patricia Barber and her four children at 2209 Cedarwood Dr, Melbourne, FL 32940. She is a single mother trying to create a stable home for her children. The project is estimated to take about 18-24 weeks from start to finish. We have several of our parishioners who have signed their names on two 10 foot STUD's to show our support and love and prayers to Patricia and family. We will be looking for volunteers who can help in anyway in this project. I have put together an excellent team of leaders who will coordinate this undertaking. I thank Mike Hurley, Al McKenna, Tom Tellson, Judy Permanente and Rich Mercandante for accepting to get on this very notable project.
Deacon Mike and Linda Morrison have been working to get our enthusiastic parishioners to be ready for the OPEN TABLE which will get in motion in January 2019. There has been an overwhelming support for this project where the volunteers would give one hour, once a week for one year. I thank those who have been involved in this project.
Your response to our Christmas giving tree was indeed breathtaking. There were 450 ornaments put on the tree. I sincerely thank you all for showing your support to the needy population of our county and neighborhood. The recipients have been sending many notes of gratitude for making their Christmas joyful. Sincere thanks to Al McKenna and Susan Answay and their team for organizing this annual Advent event.
Now it is also time to celebrate in gratitude for our very beautiful sanctuary. It is almost a year since we dedicated it on the 20th January 2018. To mark the first anniversary celebrations we will have a Three Day Celebration: On Friday, 18th January 2019 we will have the Organ Recital by Rudy Lucente at 6.30 p.m. On Saturday 19th January from
1 p.m. to 4 p.m. we will pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament in a gesture of gratitude to God. The Adoration is coordinated by Schonda Rodriguez. These 3 hours will consist of various prayers such as Divine Mercy Chaplet, Rosary, and Litanies etc. On Sunday, 20th January 2019 we will have a special Mass at 11 a.m. followed by the parish-wide picnic. I have asked Lyn Vera to coordinate these days with help from her team. Please come and celebrate, give thanks and have fun together with all of our parishioners.
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. This feast brings to mind the fact that Jesus is not just meant for the Jewish nation but to be discovered by all nations for everyone has been called to hear the good news and worship the long awaited Messiah and King with the gift of their lives. Mary McGlone while commenting on this passage says: Today, the story of the Magi combines with our reading from Isaiah to remind us that Emmanuel is still waiting to be discovered in what we might think are the most unlikely places and by the most unlikely people. It is highly improbable that a band of gypsies or a group of Muslims is going to show up at our doors. At the same time there are serious seekers, contemporary magi, all around us. They are young people who are consciously hungry for spiritual nourishment that they have not found in our churches and catechisms and those practicing Catholicism.
On this feast of the Epiphany of our Lord, it is the time to pray that our lives might enable others to seek out for a Savior in whom they can rejoice. And this is possibly only when we have cherished our relationship with Jesus. Even as we continue to seek Him out, let us be mindful that the example of our lives might spur others to embrace Christ, the King of all the nations.
Be Blessed!
With love, Your brother in Christ,
Fr. John