The Pastor's Pen

 

January 22, 2023, Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Short(er) and Long(er) Term Needs: As any who own a house will appreciate, there is always something that needs doing in terms of repair or replacement, so please imagine that also being true of a complex that includes a church, a chapel, a residence, an office building, an education and meeting area, and a large gathering hall with attached kitchen! Each year on average the parish is spending at least $100,000 on all sorts of updates and repairs to its buildings and their systems as well as to the grounds on which this complex stands. Earlier this year the hope was expressed that we would suspend the annual collection which funds the larger repairs and improvements in the course of a year in favor of focusing on a capital campaign to address a longer term need to expand storage and gathering space for the weekly food pantry. However, at this time Bishop da Cunha has not yet given us the greenlight to start that campaign and is asking that the parish wait until the onset of summer this year. We respect the bishop’s reasons and wishes, but in the meantime sprinkler pipes are still breaking and the parking lot is now(over) due for its three year resealing and relining, So at this time, we will make a request to all parishioners to contribute to the Annual Collection so that we can keep up with these repairs in the short term, but to anticipate that a bigger ask is forthcoming, when we will have to raise nearly 20x what we normally do through the Annual Collection in order to expand the Food Pantry. Your concern for the upkeep and the financial health of our parish is always evident in your generosity and please know how deeply it is appreciated by your pastor at whose desk the buck must stop, and from which the bills must ever be paid!

Parish Council:  Nomination forms are available at the entrances of the church and are due in the parish office by January 31st. because at this time there are (3) three openings for elected members of the Christ the King Parish Pastoral Council. The purpose of the Council is to advise the pastor who is appointed by the bishop to shepherd the parish in the bishop’s name. We must all appreciate that we are members of one local church called the Diocese of Fall River and Bishop da Cunha is presently our Chief Shepherd as appointed for us by Francis, the Bishop of Rome. It is in this way that we truly remain in communion with the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church established and maintained on St. Peter’s confession of faith as first stated at Caesarea Philippi. A parish is the smallest entity in this worldwide communion, but it is in a sense a microcosm of the whole. While the church is not a representative democracy in that we have from the beginning been hierarchically constituted, still leadership in the church cannot be based on power but rather on service and sacrifice. Therefore from the pope to the bishops to the pastors of parishes, those who shepherd the church must seek the collaboration of the faithful, and we do that as Pope Francis is keen to remind us by being a synodal church at every level. Synodal implies sharing the road of discipleship together and listening to one another as we follow that path to God’s kingdom. On last Sunday, all parishioners were invited to be synodal as we gathered in the parish hall following the 10:30 Mass and had a listening session with the present members of the parish council. Having heard from members of the parish, the councilors are now in a better position to advise me as pastor in terms of the priorities we should embrace and the decisions that must be made for the good of the parish. . As pastor, I am very grateful for this collaboration by our members in the governance of the parish, and for the eident love for the parish on the part of so many who so eagerly participated in last week’s open meeting with the council members. I am grateful too for those who will come forward now as nominees to be selected for membership on the Parish Council for a term of three years by a vote of the present members of the Council at a meeting in February. Whether formally in Council or informally in our interactions with one another, let us be mindful of the call that tis ours as members of a community of faith to be honest and yet respectful in our communications with one another as we walk together this road of discipleship in a synodal church toward the Kingdom of God!