Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Jerome,
Pax Christi semper vobiscum!
Please be reminded that our office hours changed beginning last week. The new office hour schedule appears in this week’s bulletin as well as on our parish website and on our Facebook page. Please be reminded that all in-house meetings during the week should be booked in advance. All meetings will begin at 7:00pm, after the evening weekday Masses. It is imperative that a parish staff member is present or at least able to facilitate the safe entry to and exit from the parish office building and meeting rooms. The cooperation of our parish leaders is important for better and safer organization.
I would like to thank many of you who cooperated and chose to spiritually take into serious consideration our response to God’s generosity through your Sunday offering. I encourage you to make it a habit as well as a conscious act of gratitude to offer one tenth of your weekly earnings to God. As for those who are not working and able to practice a weekly tithing, there are also other ways to give God our time and talent during the week and beyond. Let our parish identity be one of profound gratitude for everything we have received from God. Parents, I ask that you talk to your children about the miracles that happen to you during the week. Let them know the different ways God has manifested His presence in your lives. Let your children acknowledge the bountiful blessings that God bestows on you in even the simplest of all your encounters. For, after all, our Sunday worship should summarize our acknowledgement of God’s generosity towards us.
As the Parish Council convenes to renew our Parish Mission Statement, I ask that all of us would consider also to reflect on the most important description of the Mission that Jesus intends for us to accomplish over the next five years. The relevance of our ministries should be defined by the Mission Statement. The identity of our parish should bring us also to a better recognition of our role and participation in so many different aspects of our Christian life. The spiritual inspiration that comes from the Parish Mission Statement should be our driving energy towards a more profound meaning of our participation in the parish life.
Also, please join us for the Mass of Evangelization on July 22nd. This celebration intends to call upon our consciousness to share in the task that Jesus left us. “Go therefore and be disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”(Mt.28:19) Our witness is necessary so that others may see in us what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Sometimes, our presence is more than enough to make a statement of our conviction. I hope that you consider yourself an important part of this purpose of bringing together all believers to be closer to the same Table where Jesus Christ manifests Himself.
Until next week.
Sincerely in Christ and Mary,
