A Message from Fr. Jay
Dear Friends,
Because I took a week off after the busy Christmas and New Year season, I could not write to you last week. It was the week dedicated as ‘Unity Octave’ where we prayed for the unity of all Christians. The second reading this week reminds us of the importance of unity among the followers of Christ. We are proud of ourselves as Catholics because with its universal nature, we try to bring everyone together as one community under God. We will continue working towards it.
This weekend’s readings reveal the inclusive nature of God. Even though God chose Israel as His chosen one, He later fulfills His promise of reaching out to the gentile through His Son. In the gospel, Jesus moves into Capernaum in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, the land of the Gentiles and starts the proclamation about the kingdom of heaven. To execute His mission, He builds a team of 12 Apostles. His first message was ‘repent’….repenting to relieve us from sin and disease, both in spiritual and physical nature. Repentance calls for renewal. How do we renew ourselves?
I gratefully appreciate all of you who responded very generously to the request made by our Business Manager, Holly Atkins, last Sunday regarding the renovation of our church. We are all unified to ensure ‘our home of faith’ be fortified with dedication and sacrifice for the benefit of the future generations.
This week being National Catholic Schools week, let us pray and support all involved in Catholic education, so that the essence of Catholic faith may spread to all people for generations to come.
God Bless,
Fr. Jay Raju
- Reading 1: Isaiah 8:23-9:3
- Reading 2: 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17
- Gospel: Matthew 4: 12-23
