2020-2021 Faith, Hope, and Love
Fr. Satish's November 5th Letter to Parishioners:
Dear fellow Disciples and Parishioners,
A pandemic has disrupted and devastated the world. It has adversely affected every corner of the globe and every facet of our lives. Besides family life, the pandemic has also deeply impacted our life as a Christian community. It has changed our worship, our gatherings, and our community activities. At Immaculate Conception Parish, while we have been able to provide in-person/live stream Masses and online faith formation for children, youth, and adults, we are unable to hold our annual larger community events like the picnic and the parish retreat due to safety concerns and social gathering restrictions. Particularly important for our life as a Community of Disciples has been the Annual Parish Discipleship Retreat. The annual retreat provides us our theme and goals for each year. While this is disheartening, we must rise to the challenge as a Community of Disciples and move forward in faith.
Here at the parish, we are realizing two things as we strive to move forward: first, that the pandemic is going to be around longer than we would like; and second, that this is the time that our parish community needs to stay strong as a Community of Disciples.
On the 18th of November at 7:00pm, I will address the parish community via live stream. This evening live stream event will last approximately 45 minutes. We will use this time to share information that would normally be shared at the annual parish retreat. We are announcing our parish theme for 2020-21 as the year of Faith, Hope, and Love! In these challenging times, we believe that it is our faith that gives us hope, and that it is love that translates our faith and hope into life-giving actions.
We invite each one of you to be encouraged, inspired, strengthened by the talk, and even more so by the fact that the obstacles created by the pandemic will not prevent us from living our lives as a community of faith, a Community of Disciples. Moreover, in this time of division and turmoil stemming from the racial and political upheavals, our parish community can be an example for the rest of the world. By bearing witness to the hope that comes from faith, and by translating our faith into loving actions, we can indeed show the world what it means to Think like Jesus, Talk like Jesus and Act like Jesus.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Satish Joseph