Greetings in Christ!
May God bless you and your family with health and peace during this potentially busy season.
Some business here before I forget! Two important items:
First, our offices will be closed from December 24 through January 2nd, 2022. If you have an emergency that requires a sacrament, please call the emergency line at 810-356-3187. When you call that number, no one will answer. Instead, after you leave a message, Fr. Le, an employee and I will all receive it so that one of us can respond as quickly as possible. Please note that calling the regular parish number and leaving a message is not an effective way to get a priest to hospice or the hospital quickly, but the emergency number is. Fr. Le and I try very hard to make sure no one in our parish dies without us giving them Last Rites. Using that emergency number helps us be faithful.
Secondly, a couple weeks ago, we shared with you our plans for the rectory and the house from which we serve the poor. We are still going to do something, but it may look different now because of the change the diocese is instituting. Please keep in mind that these changes will not come from our donations, but from a grant we received. The goal we still have is to foster community among the clergy and be sure we are taking care of the poor and vulnerable. We will keep you updated!
Last thing: don’t forget that over our Christmas season, you will see new people here. People who do not usually come, and some of them will be sitting in your seats! Let’s make sure they know how terribly glad we are that they chose to come and pray with us. Let’s make sure they feel and see our love for God and them. Let’s pray that they feel compelled to come back and worship with us regularly.
So, this is the last week of Advent and it’s a great time for us to pray that God bless our efforts to focus on Him; to help us prepare for Christ’s Second Coming and to celebrate his birth.
I am already overwhelmed with joy because of all the kind, generous and thoughtful messages so many of you are sending me during this season. I can’t thank you enough. I want so badly to be a holy priest, a priest who helps us all get to Heaven. Your kind and supportive words give me a lot of joy and strength.
I am so very grateful to God for all of you.
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