Dear Parish Family,

I am so thankful for the gift of Christ and the Church in my life! We know that by trusting God and the Church He gave us, we always have truthful, merciful, and secure guidance for our daily decisions. The guidance and companionship of Christ and the Church keeps us safe on the path of salvation, even as we navigate through the rough waters of our turbulent times. I invite you to reflect with hope and gratitude on your relationship with Christ and the Church this week. 

When we, along with Simon Peter in today's Gospel, understand who Jesus is as the Christ and Son of the Father, our identity in Christ and in the Church takes its proper shape. St. Peter's identity in Christ is to be the rock of the Church. As we know, rocks have a solid structure and change very slowly over time. Just as we cannot live without love, so too do we all require the stability and security of the Church in our lives to make visible the invisible mystery of God’s love.

While we may experience frustration at times with the Church for being 'too rigid', we also need to embrace the blessing of having the stable structure of the Church to guide generations of peoples. God would not be doing humanity a favor by creating a Church that changed to become just like the rest of the world with each passing generation. We do know that the Church is open to change. However, this change needs to be understood as true development, and not aberration. St. Vincent of Lerins writes, "Development means that each thing expands to be itself, while alteration means that a thing is changed from one thing into another." Just as water over a rock 'changes' the rock over time, it does so by softening the rock’s harder edges, not by changing it into something other than a rock. 

Like a rock, the Church learns and grows to become more of what God made it to be over time. Consider that you and I also undergo this mystery of transformation to become more of who God made us to be day by day. Again, I invite you to join me in thanking God for the great gift of Christ and the Church in our lives. 

Oktoberfest Invite

We are gearing up for our 2nd Annual Parish Oktoberfest on Sunday, September 17. We plan this annual celebration around the Birth of Mary to celebrate our parish community founded in 1909. We will start the celebration with a Polka Mass at 12:00 pm in the main tent in the rear parking lot, and have some delicious German food and beverages from 1 - 7 pm. We have lots of fun activities planned throughout the day for adults and children of all ages. Oktoberfest is free to attend, and food and drink tickets can be purchased at the door or by online preorder. Please consider volunteering for a shift for a few hours. We have over 80 volunteer positions to fill for people of all ages for Saturday prep and Sunday at the event. Visithttps://stmarychardon.org/oktoberfest-2023 for volunteer signups, ticket preorders, menu, and a schedule of events. Thank you for your support and participation!

I am yours in Christ,
Father Scott Goodfellow