The time of our new parish has arrived. We must make this new parish a success through our commitment to a genuine spirit of unity, cooperation and a desire to see our faith flourish.
Our first major effort to create a new, unified parish was a great success. The celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 12 ^th required the cooperation and hard work of parishioners of both of our parishes. The large fiesta that followed the Mass was a wonderful display of unity and revealed what is possible when all persons work together to achieve a common purpose. This is the spirit that must infuse our new parish because, quite frankly, we face many challenges. Our financial situation is not strong. We will have to raise significant amounts of money to meet our basic needs. We do not have the space that a large, vibrant parish needs in order to have the events and programs that we want. All the members of our staff work very hard and without the support that we need to serve you better. Yes, we face many challenges!
We, however, face these challenges in the spirit of the admonition of St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians. “Brothers and sisters…live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit…one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all…” There are many differences that could divide us as a community of faith so we must always remember the foundation of our unity. We are one in Jesus Christ regardless of our language, our race, or our social class. Our faith is not rooted in a building or in a name. It is rooted in our profession in faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. This is what unites us in all of our wonderful and beautiful diversity. In the difficult days that we will face as a community of faith, we must always remember the source of our unity and the source of our strength. It is Jesus Christ. He is our way, our truth and our life.