St. John Neumann
Catholic Church

In the Gospel proclamation for this 20th week in Ordinary time, we hear the Lord Jesus say O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish ((Mt. 15.28). The Lord hears our perseverance in prayer, and offers us what we long for.

As I have mentioned to you many times before, I believe that my assignment as pastor of SJN was the providential work of the Lord. I am here, as a parishioner and as a family member and as your shepherd, to be renewed in mind and heart; and I believe that I am called to lead our parish toward a powerful spiritual renewal. We will be as persistent in our prayer as the woman in the Gospel was in her pleading, and ask the Lord of love for what we need mostto experience a new birth in joy, a new identity in holiness of life.

How will this happen, this spiritual renewal? In Rediscovering Catholicism, Matthew Kelly reminds us that to be disciples of the Lord Jesus is to live disciplined lives, living consciously and attentively this new Way of being human (of living authentically the life of our true self). In seeking to live the life of Jesus of Nazareth, you and I are invited to put away the old self of  your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created in God's way, in righteousness and holiness of truth (Ephesians 4.22-24).

In the Gospel proclamation for this 20th week in Ordinary time, we hear the Lord Jesus say "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish ((Mt. 15.28)." The Lord hears our perseverance in prayer, and offers us what we long for.

As I have mentioned to you many times before, I believe that my assignment as pastor of SJN was the providential work of the Lord. I am here, as a parishioner and as a family member and as your shepherd, to be renewed in mind and heart; and I believe that I am called to lead our parish toward a powerful spiritual renewal. We will be as persistent in our prayer as the woman in the Gospel was in her pleading, and ask the Lord of love for what we need most... to experience a new birth in joy, a new identity in holiness of life.

How will this happen, this spiritual renewal? In "Rediscovering Catholicism," Matthew Kelly reminds us that to be disciples of the Lord Jesus is to live disciplined lives, living consciously and attentively this new Way of being human (of living authentically the life of our true self). In seeking to live the life of Jesus of Nazareth, you and I are invited to put away the old self of  your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created in God's way, in righteousness and holiness of truth (Ephesians 4.22-24).

A group of us met in Lind Hall in July, and shared the insights that the Matthew Kelly book offered our parish. We read in that wonderful book that we were being called to develop a new habit of living: by recognizing and repenting of our habits of sin and by seeking to develop the habits of holiness... seeking to strive for the virtues. I will soon suggest another book for all of us to read together. Please look for that information in a future column.

Another dimension of this call to renewal is in consciously seeking the fellowship taught by the Lord Jesus. SJN is our spiritual family, and we are being called to recognize one another as brother and sister. Many of us saw a glimpse of this blessing at the "farewell meal" for our beloved Fr. Young. Seeing the joy of that get-together, we have begun a new tradition for our parish, one that will assist in the spiritual renewal we seek. Please know that this Saturday evening, we celebrated our 1st Table of Fellowship Pot-Luck Supper... together. Hopefully, many of you reading this column on Saturday are planning to attend, bringing your favorite dish... to share.

My hope is to offer a Table of Fellowship Pot-Luck Supper once every three months or so. It will be scheduled after the Vigil Mass on Saturday. Between 6 PM and 9 PM, the parish family will get together as a family, and will share our favorite foods with one another. These suppers will bring together young and old and all in between. These suppers will bring together families and singles, English speakers and Spanish speakers. We will see each other and greet each other as a family... doing what a family does... sharing our food and our companionship... just as the Lord Jesus did with his friends. This being a family in following the Way of the Lord Jesus is one way that we will rediscover the beauty and power of our Catholic identity. PLEASE make every effort plan to attend each of these scheduled suppers. I know your lives are busy with many, many things, but to choose to spend an evening together, once every few months... let's come together and see how good it is to be a family.


AMDG

Msgr. David Talley