A Letter From Our Pastor: September — An Ongoing Opportunity to Change the World

My dear sisters and brothers,

I love hearing those words at Mass whenever we read from any of St. Paul’s letters. He had this profound understanding that those who follow Jesus Christ were, in Christ, truly sisters and brothers, a community of believers, a family of faith. Throughout my many years as your pastor, I have come to experience this over and over again as I have gotten to know you and you have so lovingly invited me into your lives. I have shared so many moments of joy, excitement, happiness, success, and milestones. You have also allowed me to share in your sufferings and pain, your sadness and disappointments, your losses, and your grief. For this, I am profoundly grateful and deeply touched.

As St. Paul says, we truly are the Body of Christ, each of us unique and important, created in God’s image. We truly are a family in the way we care for one another, treat one another, and reflect the image of God to one another and to the world. This is a huge task, yet one that the Church has been engaged in since its very beginning at Pentecost. From that moment, the Church went out to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. Christians were different than the prevailing culture. Christians stood out because they cared for the poor, the widow and the orphan, the sick and the dying, visiting those in prison and feeding those physically and spiritually hungry.

We now refer to these actions as the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy. They are rooted in sacred Scripture. The Church, in its wisdom, has developed from them what we now refer to as “Catholic Social Teaching,” which is rooted in a commitment to the physically and spiritually poor. These are the beliefs that guide Catholics on how to apply the faith to all aspects of life, and they lay the framework for the Church’s teaching on the dignity and sacredness of human life. Once we make a commitment to be disciples of Jesus and pursue stewardship as a way of life, the principles of Catholic Social Teaching become easy to incorporate into our daily lives, in our thoughts, words, and deeds.

We have a long tradition here at Saint Michael Parish of living the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy. As you read last month in the stewardship newsletter, the work of the St. Vincent de Paul Society continued even amid all the challenges of COVID. Pregnancy Aid, preparing meals at the community kitchen and providing meals for the interfaith shelter, and our ongoing yearly commitment to the men’s shelter, have continued despite the hurdles we’ve had to overcome. Please make sure you read the article in this newsletter about the men’s shelter and our new coordinator, Rick Kelling.

August found us once again responding to the Little Red Schoolhouse appeal for school supplies for children. Our August stewardship newsletter highlighted our Shoulder to Shoulder Ministry, which offers assistance to our own parishioners who find themselves in difficult situations. Thanksgiving and Christmas will once again give us an opportunity to assist families in our local community.

I’m so grateful to each and every one of you for this collective effort in serving the poor. Though we have accomplished much, there are always many more opportunities to serve. Many of us personally need to get involved in these ministries. In our stewardship renewal this November, we will have the opportunity to take a step in our stewardship of talent and make a commitment to become involved. Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has a great love and regard for the poor and, like Jesus, he reminds us often of what we need to do. Pope Francis once said in a homily, “The measure of the greatness of a society is found in the way it treats those most in need, those who have nothing apart from their poverty.”

Together, we can make a difference. Please take some time this month to pray about how the Lord is asking you to respond to the Corporal and Spiritual needs of our sisters and brothers in Christ. As Cardinal Dolan stated, “We help others not because they are Catholic, but because we are Catholic.”

In Christ, I love you.

Fr. Jim

Fr. Jim