A Thank You from the Pastor

June 5, 2024

We just celebrated the Covenant of Participation last month and the Parish

Festival as well. Two very successful events! The commitment cards saw

over 1,100 responses to share of our talents, abilities, gifts, compassion, love,

ministry and service to others in the parish and in some cases beyond.

The following week’s picnic welcomed over 900 people of all ages for

food and drink, games and blow-up rides, pony rides and all types of fun

and entertainment. The two events combined to show how much we can

accomplish when we work together.

The concept of discipleship is about us being true followers of Jesus

Christ. We use God’s gifts to us as a shared gift to others. We are invited

to ministry in the same words and ways that Jesus called his disciples.

He started with a simple call to “follow him”. He taught them the

way to salvation and the will of the Father. He journeyed with them each

day and night to do the Fathers' work of healing, forgiving, inviting,

love, being compassionate and reconciling. He finally commanded

that they, and we, love one another as he loved us. Just as we celebrated

the ultimate community of the Blessed Trinity, so we now are called to be a

community of loving committed individuals and families who work together

to build the Kingdom of God here among us.

Discipleship has its starting point in knowing God as our personal Lord,

Savior, Creator and Father. God’s richness can be discovered each

day as we live our lives in union with his goodness and grace. As

we realize how blessed we are it becomes natural to want to share

those blessings with others. Our parish community is strengthened

and grows each time we gather for the Eucharist, when we celebrate

sacraments together, and when we are instructed by the Word of God.

When we gather for fun and enjoyment, when we support one another, when

we celebrate the sacred moments of life we are strengthened in God’s way.

I want to thank every one of you who made a commitment to service for

the Lord and St. Ann Parish through this year’s participation covenant. If you

haven’t signed up yet, please fill out a commitment card soon. I want to also

want to thank all who helped with the festival and all its events. Also, thanks

to all who came and enjoyed the day and evening together. It was tiring for

many of us, but it was fantastic to see all that came having a wonderful time.

Discipleship continues again in August and September as we focus on Prayer

and Presence and have our International Festival to help us grow together

again! Another grand opportunity to grow together as followers of Jesus Christ!

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Advent Week Four: Love Filled Hearts

December 21, 2024

Week 4: Love-filled Hearts Luke 1:39-45 If you’ve ever driven into the property at Disney World you think, “We’re almost there!” Then you keep driving and driving and driving and seeing sign after sign. Finally, the destination is in sight. Our persistence and faith have paid off and our hearts are filled with LOVE as we reach our destination. As we move through this last week of Advent, be it a short week, we know the small things we accomplished and the bigger things we’ve planned with LOVE for our future are possible. Let us pray that when we do finally see God face to face, we can repeat the words of Elizabeth heard in our Gospel account today, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” Morning prayer during the fourth week of Advent Lord, let LOVE fill my life during these last few of days before Christmas. There is so much to do, and so little time left. Let me not ruin this Advent journey with busyness but allow me to realize every moment is an opportunity to share your LOVE. Let me focus on what I am truly celebrating, a gift from God, the birth of a Savior—our Savior. No paper or ribbon or bows are needed to tell me what a wonderful gift this will be. Thank you, Lord. Amen.

Advent Week Three: Joy Filled Hearts

December 14, 2024

Week 3: Joy-filled Hearts Luke 3: 10-18 Whether you have or have had small children, remember the days when we heard, “I’m bored. What should we do ?” In today’s Gospel, we hear that phrase posed to John the Baptist three times, once from the crowd, once from the tax collectors and once from the soldiers. Our lives need meaning. There is no JOY in life without a purpose. No purpose leads to boredom. So how do we get purpose? How do we introduce JOY in our lives? We all know when we are doing things we love to do, we are happy, we have JOY. So, John says stop the things you’re doing that hurt others and yourself. Start appreciating where you are and where you’re going. That leads to a life of expectation and JOY. So, when the question arises, “What should we do,” have a JOY-filled answer of “Here’s what I did!” Morning prayer during the third week of Advent Good morning, Lord. My heart is filled with JOY today because despite the material world around me filled with negativity, conflict, greed, power and political correctness, I choose liberating JOY. I choose to look at the positive things in my life. Lord, let me, with your guidance, be able to pause, deeply breathe and say: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit exalts in God, my Savior. For he has looked with mercy on my lowliness and my name will be forever exalted. For the mighty God has done great things for me and his mercy will reach from age to age. And holy, holy, holy is his name.

Advent Week Two: Peace Filled Hearts

December 7, 2024

Week 2: Peace-filled Hearts Luke 3: 1-6 Again, the gospel calls us to the hard work of preparing ourselves and the world to receive God’s love and peace. We are reminded of the second coming of Christ and the need to be prepared. Yet, we must be reminded that God is love brings us PEACE and he wants nothing more than to share his PEACE with us, the children he loves. Luke tells us that God promises us PEACE when we travel with him. Vacation planning is always interesting. Should we go by plane or by car? How long should we stay? Do we have to see the relatives this time? And so on. One question, however, that always remains is we need to know the destination before we can plan the trip. Without a clear destination, we will never achieve our goal of being with the God of PEACE, the God who desires PEACE in our hearts and in the world and loves us beyond measure. Morning prayer during the second week of Advent Lord, thank you for another day, a day I put my trust in you. I know how you love and desire PEACE in my heart. You will see me through the remaining weeks until Christmas. Help me to keep focused on your PEACE as I stumble through the chores and the gift buying. Remind me this season is about sharing your PEACE and not about me. As I face times of “chaos,” I will turn to you. Your love will bring me PEACE.

Advent Week One: Hope Filled Hearts

November 25, 2024

Week 1: Hope-filled Hearts Luke 21: 25-28, 34-36 It would be easy to gloss over this week’s Gospel. After all, most of us don’t like the “doom and gloom” message we hear. However, the message is very fitting. Advent points us not only to the upcoming feast of Christmas but to the second coming of Christ. Isn’t that what we are living our earthly life for—the HOPE that we will be united to Christ at his second coming. We’ve all been given a limited amount of time on earth. We wish we knew how much time that was, but we don’t. The gospel message is: we always need to be prepared. We always HOPE besides the short-term destination of Christmas, God will give us an Advent season that extends beyond this year to when we will ultimately reside with Him in Heaven. Morning prayer during the first week of Advent Lord, thank for another day, a day that brings me closer to the time we will be together. It’s hard getting up these dark mornings. So, I sit here in silence filled with a sense of HOPE knowing your presence in my life. I am filled with gratitude this day for the gift of your love. Let me carry a sense of how much you love me to others I will meet and let that awareness change the way I treat them not only today but all days. Let me be more reverent in the irritations of the day. I ask your help as I move though my errands and the busyness of this season. Lord, my HOPE is in you. Amen.

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