Today, our parish numbers approximately 3,300 individuals. People of all walks of life and many cultures have found a home in our community of faith. Drawing strength and wisdom from the celebration of the Eucharist and the other Sacraments, our members reach out in ministries to serve the many needs of people in our area. Please read through these ministries and prayerfully decide where you can give back to God through your own involvement.
Contact Fr. Harrison for details.
Four Categories of Parish Activities:
Worship
Youth Activities
Christian Community
Education
Worship
“The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the fount from which all her power flows” (para. 10 from the document on the Liturgy)). With these words the Council reaffirms the primacy of the Eucharistic celebration and the other Sacraments of the Church. Every action of the Church leads to the assembly of God’s people at the altar of sacrifice each Sunday. To the Eucharist we bring our heartfelt efforts to build up the kingdom of God at home, at work or in other aspects of our lives. And then, nourished by God’s Word and the Body and Blood of Jesus, we become channels of God’s loving presence once again to family, friends and the world. Each member of the parish has a part to exercise in the Mass and the celebration of the sacraments. Together, we are one with Jesus in offering the only perfect worship of God. This is the great gift that we have received from God through the resurrection of Jesus. In these various ways our people prepare the atmosphere for worship or participate in it, together as one Body in Christ.
Youth Activities
The Catholic youth of today are the Catholic leaders of tomorrow. They will face increasingly complicated challenges in the future that will either advance human dignity or accelerate a downward spiral of man’s inhumanity to man, expanding the distance between those who have enough of this world’s goods and those who do not. They will need to find the answers for questions which our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI asked at the last World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany: Where do I find the standards to live by, what are the criteria that govern responsible cooperation in building the present and future of our world? On whom can I rely? To whom shall I entrust myself? Where is the One who can offer me the response capable of satisfying my heart’s deepest desires? Through our limited resources and the generous hearts of our volunteers, we hope to give the young members of our community the tools and wisdom to find the answer in Jesus and to sustain an optimism for a bright future in Jesus.
Christian Community
Before we can proclaim the Gospel, the good news about our new life in Jesus, we must first live it, both individually and communally. We must be the “…living Gospel for all men to hear…” as the preface for the Mass of the Apostles says. Therefore, whatever we can do to build up the community that we call “Church”, and the larger community in our neighborhood, will give tangible evidence that what Jesus has accomplished by His death and resurrection is actually a real experience in the present. These ordinary things we do for others, as well as the extraordinary that happens in times of disasters, will fill out the outline of our words about Jesus. These personal choices will give evidence of the truth that we celebrate in the Eucharist.
Education
Today, everyone agrees that you cannot get anywhere in life without a good education. And everyone realizes that continual updating is essential to someone who is really concerned about how they perform their duties. If this is essential in the world of science or commerce, it is even more important in the life of faith. As Catholics, we are to be the light of the Gospel in the world and to cooperate with God in transforming creation. To accomplish this we need to know the faith and all that it entails.
How will neighbors and strangers discover the answers about Jesus if the Christians they ask do not know? How will decisions be made in the light of faith in Jesus if the followers of Jesus do not know what that faith entails for themselves or others? How will parents be able to give good direction to their children in the pressing issues that confront them if they have not read Scripture or the teachings of the Church?
All our educational programs will attempt to teach the principles that derive from Scripture and express our faith in Jesus. In faithfulness to the teachings of the Church, we hope to challenge the mind and open the hearts of young and old to all that is truly possible when we see life and all creation through the eyes of Jesus’ intentions for mankind.