Come Out of the Darkness to a Community of New Life

Come Out of the Darkness to a Community of New Life
 
              Whether we are coming from the darkness of the tomb - of Jesus or one of our loved ones - or facing the evils of this world, or some other way our lives have grown stagnant, cold or dark - we can rejoice! The springtime of our faith has arrived! Our joy at Easter is far more than just a springtime ritual or situational happiness. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ we celebrate today offers us an invitation that, if we respond, can have a great impact in our lives. Since Jesus' Resurrection has triumphed even over sin and death, His warm light of new life can shine on all forms of darkness in our lives! Our Christian faith is more than just a system of values and morals, but a celebration of the fact that God's love for you personally means He wants to walk with you and me through our dark valleys and raise us up again to the hope and strength of new life. This is the heart of our faith that St. Peter proclaims in our first reading this Sunday: Jesus who died and rose again is Lord of life and wants to share His new life and mercy with each of us - here and now!
Our two parishes of St. Martha and St. Mary are working together as a Collaborative of Parishes to share this new life in new ways. By God’s grace, we have successfully met all the goals of our collaborative’s 2017-2020 Pastoral Plan and bounced back from the challenges of the pandemic through our 2021 Welcome Back Initiatives. Now we are seeking your input for where we go next through our Survey of Plainville & Wrentham Area Catholics. Your feedback will help us as we write our next three-year St. Martha and St. Mary Plan for 2022-2025. To share your thoughts, please use the QR Code in our pews and this bulletin, or visit bit.ly/surveyPWC to share your perspective and guide our priorities and initiatives.
It takes more time and effort to do this kind of consultation while planning, for sure. In fact, sometimes parishioners ask me why I consult so many different committees of parishioners. Perhaps in an effort to speed things along, they might even add, “Can’t you just decide that for yourself? You’re the Pastor!” Officially, I do have the authority to make most decisions for the parishes by myself, and in smaller matters I make multiple decisions for our parishes every day. However, if it relates to a topic that can have a major effect on the people of St. Martha and St. Mary Parishes, I decide alone at my own peril (and that of the parishes). Only when we show respect for our own limitations and the dignity of one another can we thrive as “Parish Family” in our local churches.
So we hope to hear from you! May we all make a choice to allow our new life in Christ, begun in baptism and renewed each Easter, to engage us in the real circumstances of our lives. We look forward to you being an important part of our future in St. Martha Parish and St. Mary Parish - a future filled with Resurrection hope!