Apr 3, 2018
Our mission at St. Patrick’s is to be a place where people encounter the Lord Jesus Christ, love God and their neighbor and make disciples of Christ.What does it mean to “make disciples of Christ?” This means to help other people discover Christ in their life, learn...
Dec 4, 2015
Our mission as a parish is to be a place of encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ so people will love God, love their neighbor and make disciples of Christ. What does it mean to “love our neighbor”? It means to serve those whom the Lord brings into our life. The...
Nov 28, 2015
The mission of the parish is to be: a place of encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ so people will love God, love their neighbor and make disciples of Christ. What does it mean to “love God”? As with any human relationship that two people love each other, there is...
Nov 25, 2015
A mission for a parish defines what we are all about. Our mission at St. Patrick’s Church is to: be a place of encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, so people can love God, love their neighbor and make Disciples of Christ. What do we mean by “encounter with the Lord...
Oct 28, 2015
Have you ever considered that you were made for God’s pleasure and delight? The Bible tells us in Genesis 1:26-27 that you were made in the image and likeness of God. That surely makes you a person with significance and destiny. You may not always feel that way, but...
Oct 27, 2015
Your life is formed to be “light that pierces darkness.” When Jesus came into the world he was the light that shone in the darkness and the darkness didn’t overcome it (John 1:5). You are that light now! “Clothed with the power from on high”-the Holy Spirit-empowers...
Oct 24, 2015
You are called to ministry. Everyone single Christian is called to serve, to minister. What is ministry? It is simply meeting the needs of people with the resources of God. Each Christian has a unique SHAPE. You are created in a unique way with spiritual gifts,...
Oct 22, 2015
You were made to become like Christ. That is God’s goal for your life: to be conformed to Jesus. Jesus is the reason why we exist. Through him we have been created. This is stated in the opening of John’s gospel (chapter one, verses 1-5). This means our life...
Oct 20, 2015
When you were born, you were born into a family-as every person in the world. Through baptism, you were born into a spiritual family. This family has God as your Father, Jesus as your elder brother and the Holy Spirit as your constant companion and friend. You were...
Oct 16, 2015
In Genesis 12:1-4 God breaks into Abram’s life and calls him to a personal relationship with Him. He calls him to a new security and identity that God will give Him. God promises to bless him and he will be a blessing to the nations. God calls Abram to a life of...
Oct 11, 2015
The Church today is hearing a fresh call from the Holy Spirit regarding evangelization. This has become so clear through the recent ministries of the Popes. Paul VI called evangelization the Church’s deepest identity. Conversion Is what she is about. When Jesus was...
Oct 2, 2015
Another great re-discovery in our time is the spirituality of Pentecost. The Church has become aware that the vigor and ardor of Pentecost is needed for our day. Pope Paul VI said the Church is always in need of a perpetual Pentecost. John Paul II stated that in our...
Sep 30, 2015
One of the great re-discoveries of our time is that the Church is not just an institution (though important as this is) but is also a spirituality of communion. The fellowship of believers sharing their hearts with one another, growing in faith and encouraging one...
Sep 26, 2015
John Paul II called the parish a school of prayer. What did he mean? Amongst several things, the essence was that through prayer, the Christian would fall in love with Jesus. He spoke of how prayer is more than just petition and intercession. In addition, it is about...
Sep 26, 2015
Continuing the reflection on vision for the parish, what is meant by the parish as a training ground of holiness? John Paul II said that when we bring a person for baptism, and we ask, “What do you ask of the church?”, the answer could be very simply “holiness.” What...
Sep 25, 2015
One way to describe mission is to think about what we are here for. At St. Patrick our mission is very simple: it is to love God with all out heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. It is to make disciples of all nations teaching them to...
Sep 24, 2015
Vision is about describing a picture of the future as you would like to see it. For us at St. Patrick, we based the vision on Blessed John Paul II‘s apostolic letter of 2001 called “At the Beginning of the New Millennium.” This was the pope’s vision statement...
Jul 6, 2015
The final purpose or priority for the Christian life is mission or evangelism. Jesus told us to “Go and make disciples of all nations.” I like to call this “life on mission.” As we live our life, we “are going”! WE interact with others. As we do, we establish and look...
Jul 4, 2015
Every Christian is called to serve. Or, in other words, we are called to ministry to others. Ministry is not the domain of clergy. Rather it is the calling of all who are baptized in Christ. What is ministry? It is meeting the needs of others out of the resources the...
Jul 4, 2015
We are created to be disciples of Jesus. What does this mean? A disciple is a “learner.” This is not simply an accumulation of information. It is imitating the life-style choices and values of the Master. Every disciple, in biblical times, imitated a master. For us,...
Jul 2, 2015
We are created for God’s pleasure. We are created for His purposes. Often, in our culture, we tend to think first of ourselves. We think: “what are my goals for life?” “What will make me happy?” “What is important to me?” The Bible tells us that we are first created...
Jun 1, 2015
What makes a balanced Christian life? When we stop to think about it, all living things grow. If a child is not growing in physical stature we become concerned about this. Healthy things grow. We plant a tomato seed in the ground and we expect there to be growth...
Dec 24, 2014
As we are in the midst of the Advent season, we are called by the Church and the Scriptures to grow in prayer and the Word of God in our faith. December 8th is the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Mary appears as a significant person in the Advent season....
Nov 15, 2014
Another way to think of the parish is that it is a “school”. Naturally, we think of schools as places of learning, education, growth and change. In schools we are equipped with skills and information to be effective in the world. In the best sense of “school”, we are...
Nov 14, 2014
One way to think of the Church is that it is an army. When we think of armies, in the best sense of the word, one may think of an army that goes to rescue people who are in difficult and even dangerous situations. The Church exists for such a mission. Jesus, in his...
Nov 13, 2014
Another way to think of the parish is a hospital. Normally, we think of hospitals as places people go to who are sick and they want to become healed. Medicine is designed to bring healing to people’s lives. The parish is to be a place of healing and restoration of...
Nov 12, 2014
One way to think of the parish is that it is a family. In the best sense of the family, relationships are everything. A family is made up of relationships with different roles and functions and gifts. Not all are the same in a family. The roles are different. The...
Nov 10, 2014
In some ways, the early Church as seen in the Book of Acts saw themselves as a “movement.” As the Body of Christ on earth, they saw themselves engaged in communicating the Good News of Jesus Christ to a world dwelling in darkness and lost. They saw this as the sole...
Jul 5, 0205
The Christian life is not meant to be lived alone. I have often said: there are no “lone ranger” Christians!!! We were made for fellowship, sharing life and faith with brothers and sisters in Christ. Sharing our life and faith with others enables us to be accountable...
