To My Spiritual Family of Holy Redeemer and St. Anthony:
Baptismal Font Update: If you really love the new tile in the baptismal font area at Holy Redeemer, thank Dana California. She was our artistic vision person! The font itself is being constructed from the large ambo that has for many years stood in the gathering space of the church. We looked at all kinds of fonts in catalogs, but nothing quite seemed to capture everyone’s approval. Being able to use wood that is organic to the parish and that already matches the furnishings in the sanctuary has us very excited. We are deciding on the material for the baptismal bowl itself – most likely thick glass or stainless steel in a wooden basin. All of the work should be completed and in place for our celebration of the Easter Vigil. I’ll keep you updated!
Invite to Ignite Mission: It is hard to imagine any Catholic family these days – no matter how devout and focused on Christ – who has not experienced the pain of seeing a loved one walk away from the Church. For many of us, our number one daily prayer request is a begging of God to bring our loved ones back to the faith. Here is something for us to remember: God loves those who have left the Church even more than we do! He wants them back in the fold even more than we do! Ultimately, it is the Holy Spirit that softens hearts and restores an active faith. You and I have a role to play, though, and it is an important role. Besides being intercessors, we can be witnesses. The more our loved ones see the fire of Christ burning in us, the more willing they may be to return to the Church. We cannot give what we do not have, and believe me, we all – myself included – need to constantly feed the fire of God’s love. That is what our upcoming Lenten Mission is all about. Many of you were set on fire last year by the powerful words and witness of Fr. Ben. I am confident that our evenings with Fr. Mike Polinek will provide the same “fire stoking” this Lent. Please come to the Mission. Please plan on being at church each night. Invite a friend. Invite an enemy. Invite to ignite!
Totally on Mission: I am so blessed to be ministering as a priest in a Catholic community that is so absolutely alive and on fire as our Catholic community is! We are not perfect for sure, and we sometimes slip into discouraging mediocrity, but we have an incredibly good Catholic thing going on here and I am grateful for the fire that is blazing! Both the Parish Leadership Team and our Amazing Parish Coach, Nate, recently made the decision to have us progress to a new organizational rally cry. Having “Ignited the Fire at Holy Redeemer” (our former rally cry), we are now rallying around – “Totally on Mission!” The impetus is to now pour ourselves out in ministry, evangelization, fellowship, service, and works of charity – in other words – the core aspects of Christian discipleship. We hope to do this by exhibiting healthy teamwork, engaging parishioners on Sunday, and forming volunteers as evangelists. We want to step forward even more boldly than before. We want to be boldly Catholic in every respect! In the days ahead, there will be much more to talk about and to do. For now, I invite you to be Totally on Mission!
Mary, Mother of the Redeemer – Pray for us!
Our Lady of Guadalupe – Pray for us!
St. Anthony – Pray for us!
St. Joseph – Pray for us!