Easter Message

On Easter more then twice the usual number of people come to Mass.  I thought it was important that everyone heard this message of welcome, so I delivered it at the end of every Mass today:

Today, on this holiest of days, as pastor of Our Lady of Good Council parish, I wish to extend a word of thanks and of welcome to all who are here today – to those of you we see every week, to those of you who have traveled a distance to be here with friends and relatives and to those of you who live close by. 

To all of you we say welcome. 

And to those of you who live close by but are not regular members of any parish, we invite you to join with us.
We try to be an open and welcoming community.
We are a very diverse community. 

Sometimes people might think of a Catholic parish as a “club for saints.”
Believe me, that is not what we are.
Many years ago I heard a monsignor refer to parish as a “hospital for sinners.”
That’s much more accurate an image!

While OLGC is not a club for saints, there are many holy men and women who are part of the mix here.  And many more of us are in the tradition of St. Augustine, seekers after truth, as well as doubters, questioners, a mixture of people who love to serve others, of people who love to pray and study together and grow in their faith together, of people of deep faith who love to worship God, and of people who earnestly struggle in their life of faith.  You will find here people who are poor and people who are better off.  You will find here people whose families have been here for generations and people who recently entered this country.  You will find mostly Catholics here, but also people of other religions and traditions who choose to worship and walk with us.  You will find people of many nations, many ethnic groups, and many varieties of marital status, immigration status, and sexual orientation.

Just as Jesus welcomed all, we welcome all and invite all to worship with us and to walk with us our journey of faith.