Dear Friends and Parishioners of Saint Jerome,
Pax Christi semper vobiscum!
We launched our first parish session of the Renew My Church (RMC) Program last Monday. Thank you to everyone who attended the session. The presentation given by our discernment team, was extensively informative. If you did not have the opportunity to personally listen and interact in the group discussions, you may go to our Parish Website, Facebook page or YouTube channel to watch the recorded presentation. Additionally, we posted a survey in our Facebook page, to understand your opinion, regarding the possible scenarios of our parish grouping. Stay connected with us through Facebook and please make sure to check out our Parish Website for any RMC updates.
The process of renewal always brings new challenges. Change is an inevitable outcome of this process. This is where the Renew My Church Program is leading us to. We are being led to a new beginning, which will allow our faith communities to form new disciples as we adapt to the signs of the times, that lead us to be more creative in using our available human resources to build the Kingdom of Christ today. The RMC prayer states very plausibly the intended result of the entire process:
to hear God clearly
to listen to each other attentively
to imagine our future boldly
to discern God’s direction wisely
to persevere God’s holy will courageously to stay together in charity
to surrender our own plans readily
to embrace the greater good
to hand on God’s gifts to future generations.
For this reason, our positive energy is important to remain united towards the goal we intend to achieve while we continue to assimilate the process. I ask that you please pray to the Holy Spirit that our discernment team, and all who are involved in this endeavor, remain guided by God’s inspiration.
Our Gospel this weekend has great wisdom for us to ponder upon. Saint Matthew asserts that whatever we have agreed to pray for would be granted in heaven. This indeed affirms the importance of unity. Perhaps, during this time of discernment as our parish is involved in the RMC process, we could also call to our mind the importance of being united in prayer.
In the end, I assure you that God is with us and will continue to assist us in our journey.
We are and will always be accompanied by the One who promised His presence until the end of time.
Sincerely in Christ and Mary,
