Dear Parish Family,
What do we do with suffering? We all experience it in one form or another. Despite our world's best intentions to eliminate it, it seems that suffering only increases the more we fight against it. The Lord shows us that while it is good to ease our sufferings and the sufferings of others, the best response is acceptance of suffering with Christ and journeying with others through their sufferings that are beyond our capacity to mitigate.
 
Acceptance of suffering doesn't mean resignation or despair. On the contrary, it means that we confidently approach God to accept His mercy and grace to help us through our suffering. The suffering servant of Isaiah is Jesus Christ who bears our infirmities with us. God sees that suffering has the power to teach us to trust, be grateful, and never take the good things of life for granted. Suffering accepted with Jesus can be powerfully transformative and redemptive for ourselves and for the world.
 
While we might be tempted to complain about suffering in the world, we need to remember our role as disciples of Christ. The ultimate goal of God is not to eliminate suffering in our world, but to transform our humanity into the image and likeness of Jesus. This simple point can help us make sense of why a good God would not do everything in His power to remove suffering in this life. As Christ's disciples, we can be powerful witnesses of the transformative and redemptive grace of suffering in our own lives and help others bear with their sufferings by accompanying them through their pain. After all, the greatness of Christ's disciples is measured by being a servant of all, by giving our lives with Jesus to save many.
 
Please see the schedule linked below for the Day of Prayer for Priests this Friday, October 25 from 8 am - 12 pm in St. Mary's Church. Thank you for praying for priests! We are very grateful for your support and encouragement in Christ!
 Day of Prayer & Fasting for Priests Schedule
 
We are trying something new this year with a Fall Parish Mission! In addition to our usual Parish Mission to be held in Lent of this coming year, we've invited Fr. Jim Sichko, a priest from the Diocese of Lexington and a Papal Missionary of Mercy, to come for a 3-night mission this month on Sunday October 27, Monday October 28, and Tuesday October 29 at St. Mary Church. Each night of the mission begins at 7 pm. The theme of the mission is "60 Minutes for Jesus" and is family-friendly. I look forward to growing in faith with you there!
 
I am yours in Christ,
Fr. Scott Goodfellow