Here it is, my last bulletin letter as pastor of Sacred Heart Parish. The past 29 years have gone by very quickly as time does when we look back. It has been a very blessed twenty-nine years. So much has happened in our lives and in our world. Our parish family has grown in so many ways, the most important is how we have grown spiritually in faith and in service to our brothers and sisters in Christ, especially to those in need of our prayers and in material assistance helping those who are in need of food and shelter.
We have grown in every aspect of parish life. Thanks to so many kind and generous people we have grown in our ability and our desire to reach out to others in every aspect of life. This is what God calls each of us to do, it is the message of the Gospel. Jesus taught us to love one another as He has loved us. This is what makes us His followers. He has given us all that we need in order to become more and more like Him from the sacraments and His Word in the scriptures to the teachings in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. He has given us all that we need, but if we are to bear much fruit we must choose each day to use these gifts as well as the gifts and various gifts and abilities He has given to all of us in a variety of ways.
We need to continually reflect on the gifts He has given us and resolve to do more to use these gifts in the best possible ways to serve our brothers and sisters in Christ so that more and more people come to love God and one another. This is why we are created. This is what we are meant to do. This is the fulfillment of who we are to work to build up the kingdom of God here and now and not later.
I hope and I pray that our parish family will continue to flourish in every way, especially in our prayer life, in our devotion to the Holy Eucharist, God’s presence among us, in our willingness to be of service to one another no matter who they are.
I also am very sorry to anyone that I may have offended in any way. I tried to do the best that I could to minister to everyone, but there are times that we fall short and miss the mark out of weakness or laziness. I hope that I may receive forgiveness from my brothers and sisters in Christ. I beg your pardon and God’s mercy.
I could go on and on, but most off all I am thankful to God and to all of you. There are so many good people in our parish family, and I pray we can all do better and spend more time with God, especially in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in our Chapel of Divine Mercy.
I am grateful to all the parish staff who have served our Lord so well over the years. The Lord has sent us many good people to lead and guide us on our journey to Him and His kingdom. I pray especially for them and that the good Lord will continue to send us good and faithful people to minister to our parish family in the future.
I will continue to pray for all of you and your families. May God bless all of you in every way. Please pray for me that I may continue to serve God in some way in my retirement. As I mentioned previous, I will be residing here in Wadsworth at St. Edward’s Village, 880 Main St., Wadsworth, Ohio 44281, Room 212. Take care and God bless all.
Recently, Connor McNeill, son of Ryan and Leah McNeill traveled to Richmond, Virginia to compete in the Speech and Debate National Tournament. His speech was on the fall of the Berlin Wall. Connor took first place in his division competing against hundreds of other high school students. I listened to his speech, and he did an excellent job. The one thing that very much impressed me was that when his name was announced he very boldly made the sign of the cross. He is not afraid to be a witness to faith. Congratulations, Connor and God bless all your efforts.
