Another submission to our parish newsletter Visions, this time welcoming our parishioners to participate in the sacramental life of the Church.
Fr. Ben Hadrich
Dear Parishioners of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church,
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of
mine for you all making my prayer with joy, thankful for your partnership in
the gospel from the first day until now.
And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to
completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:3-6).
I write to you with a heart of joy having spent over two
months in this new assignment as your pastor. It is a privilege and an honor to serve you! I am grateful for your warm welcome and
am inspired by the fidelity and dedication of so many at our parish. Indeed, this is OUR parish, not
mine. I thank God for the numerous
generations of parishioners who, through God’s grace and their generosity, have
provided for such a beautiful Church and community. I thank God for blessing us with a wonderful staff, faculty
and leaders of organizations/communities to bring life in serving God and our
neighbor.
As I shared at the first Masses I celebrated here, my number
one goal as a priest is to journey with you to Jesus Christ. I believe with all my heart that God
wants each of us to receive His love and mercy every day and to grow in a
relationship with Him. I also
believe that God has given us a Church in which to experience this love in
tangible and concrete ways. There
is no way I would be a celibate priest if I did not firmly trust in the Church
Christ established and continues to guide today!
In a special way, I want you to know you are most welcome to
join in the sacramental life in which we celebrate. If I could wish for anything in the world, it would be that
all parishioners would come to Mass every week and Confession regularly. Whether it has been a week since you
last came to Mass, or thirty years, know of my personal invitation to join in
our parish family at the Eucharist.
(If attending weekly Mass is a challenge or not possible due to illness
or age, please call our office so that we can bring you the sacraments!) Whether it has been a couple of days or
decades since your last Confession, I invite you to experience again the mercy
God bestows in the absolution of your sins.
It is my hope to continue building on an excellent
foundation here. Specifically, I
want to be a catalyst of joy to the Good News of Jesus Christ. I hope to foster gratitude and
generosity in response to all of God’s gifts. In the United States of America, we often take these for
granted though they are desperately needed for some here and around the
world. Please join me in prayer
that we may be faithful to God Who is always faithful to us.
Know of my daily prayers for you all. If I, or our parish family, can be of
any assistance to you, do not hesitate to call!
May God, who has begun the good work in us, bring it to fulfillment!
God Bless,
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