Bulletin Column for Nov. 18

Dear friends in Christ,

Welcome to our 10th anniversary weekend celebration of the dedication of the “new” church at Christ the Redeemer. I put “new” in quotes because while our present church building is relatively new at 10 years of age, our parish is in its 38th year. (And, yes, we’re already planning on a big parish-wide 40th anniversary celebration in 2020.)

But it has been 10 years in our new home and that in and of itself is reason to celebrate. The actual date of dedication was Nov. 16, 2008, but we’re taking the whole weekend to remember and give thanks to God for our spiritual home. We began in prayer on Friday with Solemn Evening Vespers and continued in service on Saturday with our Family Service Day. Today, the Lord’s day, we join our hearts in giving glory to God for the gift of this sacred space.

As important a date as our anniversary is I think back to all the days that led up to it as the real cause of our celebration. It was in your feedback to our Master Plan in 2005 that gave rise to what CtR should look like in the coming years. It was in countless meetings of the Parish Pastoral Council, Finance Council and the Building Committee that the vision for the new church took root. And of course it was in your generous gifts of Stewardship in the “Our Faith, Our Future” Capital Campaign that so many families made the sacrifice that made it all possible. All of those things had to come together first before we could even have a dedication day to remember. That was the real work of our hands and I can never say thank you enough to all those who sacrificed to raise up this good and noble work.

As beautiful as our building is we know that it is the people of God who are the real shining lights of our parish. After all, this is only a building of brick, wood and stone made by man, but the Church is the living icon of Christ. It is the Body of Christ that makes the building, not the building that makes the Body of Christ. When that Body of Christ, united in faith, comes together with a single hope, dream and vision, we are able to do more than we ever think possible.

On the day of dedication 10 years ago we numbered about 4,200 families at CtR. Today, it’s more than 7,000. We welcome all who claim CtR as their spiritual home. If you are among those who joined us in these recent years, welcome! Thank you for your presence. Look around and see what people just like you did to create this beautiful space. I challenge you to join them in giving of yourself through faithful Stewardship of your time, talents and treasure to help us maintain this building and continue to meet our financial obligations on our other spaces. We all give to the measure we can (recall last week’s Gospel of the widow’s mite) because it is right and just. We all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us and we work together to leave a legacy of faith for those who will come after us. May God shed His light on our community for years to come!

Looking ahead to next weekend we will celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King on Nov. 25, the final Sunday in Ordinary Time. Our liturgical year comes to a close as we recognize our Lord as King of Heaven and Earth, and we wait with joyful anticipation of His coming again in glory. The following week a new liturgical year will dawn on the First Sunday in Advent.

At the 9 a.m. Mass next Sunday we will welcome 22 new members into our Catholic faith through our RCIA program. Those of you who attend the 9 a.m. Mass regularly have witnessed these men and women on their journey throughout the year, and though the normative time for those in RCIA to come into the Church is at Easter, we also welcome a group each year right before Advent. These are baptized Christians (in a different denomination) who now seek entrance into the Church, and as they are as ready as they will ever be, it only makes sense to bring them in now so that they can celebrate the upcoming Advent and Christmas seasons as members of the Catholic Church. We welcome them with great joy, and we pray for the others who will continue their formation and join us at Easter.

RCIA is a good mirror of the Church itself: it’s a constant cycle of people coming to understand God in their life and choosing to say “yes” to His call. We don’t ever force or command someone to come into the Church. The candidate him or herself makes that choice after a period of study and prayer. Our only aim in RCIA is to help them with that study so that they might make the decision to follow Christ when He calls. Let that serve as a reminder to all of us to invite friends, neighbors, co-workers and family members to “come and see” what the Catholic faith is about. We must be people who radiate the joy of the Gospel so that our very lives will serve as an inspiration to others. When they ask you (or you ask them!) about the Catholic faith, invite them to come talk to us about RCIA so that we might share the Good News with them and hopefully encourage them to join us on the journey of faith.

Though not a Church holy day, we will have Thanksgiving Mass at 9 a.m. this Thursday, Nov. 22 in the main church. You are invited to bring items from the Thanksgiving meal you will be serving that day for the annual Blessing of Food at the end of Mass. This has become a nice tradition each year for families to start this special day giving thanks to God for the many blessings we have received. Bring a basket with some of the items for the dishes you will be preparing and at the end of the Mass we’ll ask God’s blessing upon them. It’s a good way of making the connection between the bounty we receive at the table of the Lord to the bounty we offer at our table at home.

As a side note, we will not have evening confessions or Mass this week on Wednesday, Nov. 21, the day before Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving week always brings with it the start, whether we like it or not, of the “holiday season.” Some stores even now open on Thanksgiving Day, as hard as it is for me to believe it. Let’s resolve to greet this extra-busy time of the year with joy in our hearts. It can be so easy to allow the busyness of this time of year to overwhelm us. We stress out and worry about so much that is beyond our control. If we can remember to always be “thankful” for all that we have in our lives (and return that thanksgiving to God first), then I am willing to bet we’ll approach all the season with the right frame of mind. When we get anxious and worried, short-tempered and “me-centered,” then we quickly lose the joy. Give thanks always and allow the Lord to guide you through this busy season.

Peace, Fr. Sean