Pastor's Corner
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From Pastor's Desk....
Jim Gaffigan is one of the comedians I like and when I am bored, I go on YouTube and watch some of the old episodes. Recently I came across an episode where he jokes about the birth of his fourth baby. He says comically and seriously, “…my wife did it. She had four babies in our apartment. She is an amazing woman. Really all women are amazing. I mean that in a pandering way. Women are. Women can grow a baby inside their body and then somehow women can deliver a baby through their body and then through some miracle they can feed the baby with their body.” What an inspiring observation. It really helped me to understood and accept how Jesus could claim to give his body and blood as food for us which troubled the Jewish scribes and Pharisees of his time. Women are amazing for their blessing of Motherhood. It reveals love and sacrifice to the highest level possible. On this Mothers’ Day, I express my gratitude and appreciation to all the mothers in our parish family. We celebrate you. Happy Mothers’ Day!
I lost my mother three years ago. I couldn’t even attend her funeral but I never felt that she left me. She is always there for me even after she had gone home to God. Mothers never leave their children because of the belonging. We all have a mother in our Blessed Mother. Jesus gave his mother to us from the cross. (Jn. 19: 26-27) In the month of May we specially honor her by offering flowers and crowning her statue. I would request all our parish families to pray the Rosary. This is not an external gesture of honor like flower offering or crowning. Praying the Rosary honors her and draws her attention to aid us in all our needs. My father always used to convince us to pray the Rosary as a family every evening. He always said, “The family that prays together stays together.” I believe it because it became true in our family. Mary our mother intercede for us to Jesus her son.
Week of May 5, 2019
Last Sunday and this Sunday our parish children are receiving First Holy Communion. My love, prayers, blessings and congratulations to all of them, their parents and family members. May Jesus who comes to our children for the first time in the Eucharist transform them to fruitful members of His Body, the Church. When I give First Holy Communion to a second grader I often wonder what he or she understands when he or she answers “Amen.” They are in their best behavior and best clothing. They are around the Altar in the Sanctuary. They are so prayerful and pious. Everything is right to receive the Body of Christ. They understand the mystery of the Eucharist to their level and God’s grace and blessings are with them. The parents, Catechists, Deacons, Priests and our faith community has done all that is possible to teach them and prepare them for this day. I feel proud of the ministry our parish catechetical team accomplishes year after year. Special thanks to Mrs. Heide Reale and all her ministry for the years as director of the team. Even though she gave up her position recently, she still is part of our catechetical ministry team and helps. Deacon John McCormack who leads the ministry now has been working hard to continue all the good works. Our Catechists deserve my sincere appreciation for their hard work, dedication and sacrifices for the catechetical ministry of our parish. All of them deserve our heartfelt appreciation and gratitude. I lift them all to the Risen Jesus for His blessings.
These days I have been working with the Archdiocesan teams and our parish leaders and benefactors to frame a vision for the next ten years for our parish. I am happy at the cooperation I get from all. I consider it absolutely essential to set up short-term and long-term visions and plans if we are serious to move forward as a faith community and work hard to accomplish them with the grace of God. I have been spending a lot of time praying for God to help us. I request all our parishioners to pray that God helps us to build up our parish community. Next five months we will spend in prayer, planning and finding resources to accomplish our vision on three areas: Spiritual Renewal & Faith Formation, Community Building and Campaign for funds to solve the Church debt. Let us keep knocking at God’s door.
Week of April 28, 2019
My brothers and sisters in the Risen Lord,Wish you all a very Blessed Easter Season. May the Risen Jesus bless each and every member of our parish family with his gifts of unity, peace, forgiveness and Holy Spirit!
It is now nine months since I am with you. You may be surprised to know that with my appointment as Pastor, there was an attachment saying St. Kateri has a huge debt in building the new Church. I gracefully accepted it as good debt for building a new church and relied on God and your generosity to find ways to solve it. I spent all this time learning the details of it and meeting with all relevant people to resolve it. Finally, on 7thof March, I met with Finance Board of the Arch-diocese and the Parish Assistance Corporation that loaned the money and requested for an agreement in writing that would help us. On 27thof March, the proposal was sent to me for my approval and signature.Here below, I am bringing to your attention some important points of the proposal:
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Parish PAC (Parish Assistance Corporation) loan balance of $17.2 mil-lion is comprised of three loans.....
1. The three PAC loans will be consolidated into one loan, with a 20-year term and an interest rate of 4%
2. The Archdiocese will contribute $5 million to pay down the loan principal, reducing the balance to $12.2 million.
3. The Archdiocese will pay the interest expense on the PAC loan for a period of five years beginning April 2019 and ending March 2024. At a balance of 12.2 million, the loan will incur interest of $488,931 initially, declining as the principal is paid down.
4. While the Archdiocese absorbs the interest expense, the parish will undertake an extra ordinary campaign to raise $5 million, which will be applied to the loan principal. As such, the $5 million from the Archdiocese would be a dollar-for dollar matching contribution.
5. To assist the parish further, and to ensure that all fundraising efforts are attributed to the repayment of the loan principal, Cardinal Dolan has approved for the parish to be excluded from the Cardinal’s annual Stewardship Appeal for the next 5 years.
These proposals were discussed in detail at the Finance Council Meeting on April 10thand accepted. I signed it on April 11thand returned it to the Archdiocese. At present we are trying to explore the resources from the Archdiocese and from our parish community to run this major campaign and side by side, build up our community. Four months of planning time and we will come up with a concrete short term and long term plans to achieve our vision. My vision is in fifteen years’ time when we gather to celebrate Church’s Silver Jubilee, we must be debt free and become a vibrant faith community. Be generous with your time, talent and treasure and good stewards of your church. Approach me any time to share ideas and help in planning and execution. Above all, pray every day with faith. God will make it happen for us. Our Parish
Trustees: Mr. Thomas Beresford and Mr. Robert Herberger.Finance Council Members: Mr. Dave Borges, Mrs. Lorraine Travia, Mrs. Rosealice D'Avanzo, Mr. Dave Anderson and Mr. John Reale,and Mr. John Sullivan
Forty days ago we began our Lenten journey on Ash Wednesday and now we are in Holy Week and Easter. We received ashes on our forehead to remind us of our mortality and decided to repent and turn away from sin. We resolved to live a life of prayer, fasting and alms giving. Some of us followed all our resolutions. Others left them half way through. As a parish family we did many things to make Lent a season of grace. Participation at the weekday and Sunday Masses increased. Many parishioners received the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Good number of people attended the fish fry, Lenten reflections and prayed the Stations of the Cross on Fridays. Our children were in the forefront. They all went to confession, through Passport to Easter program participated in various activities to get ready for Easter. Whether we are ready or not, Easter is greeting us. The Lord is Risen!
Resurrection is powerful. No one has ever risen from the dead. Our Lord Jesus conquers death by rising to life. But what happened on Good Friday? Was it weakness that Jesus was crucified and killed as a common criminal? I never gave a thought until recently. Five years ago I was visiting one of my Hindu friends in India. His son was in second grade and his Hindu Religion teacher had taught him that the Hindu gods are powerful whereas the Christian God Jesus allowed himself to be crucified and killed. The little boy asked me, Father Uncle, If Jesus is God why did he allow himself to be killed. How could he claim to be God if he is killed by people? I thought it was a good question and answered him. When I came to visit my friend this boy was wrestling with his Dad and I heard him say, “I win, Dad I win.” So I asked him, “When you wrestled with your Dad, he let you win, Right? Does it mean your Dad is weaker than you or he lost to you to show his love for you?” They all understood. Jesus’ death on the cross is not weakness or failure. It is the revelation of God’s true love for us. Happy Easter