PRAYER:  Is the world filled with anguish, gloom, darkness and burdens?  Isaiah in our first reading points out that with the Lord  “Anguish has taken wing, dispelled is darkness…. Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown…. For the yoke that burdened them,  …. You have smashed…”

     Psalm 27 assures us:  The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear?”

     In our Gospel reading from Matthew we see Jesus starting his public ministry, calling his first Disciples and “proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.”

PARISH MAINTENANCE :  We received the bill for the cost of the replacement section of the church boiler for about $9600.  We also have a steam leak coming down into the men’s room wall of the downstairs Hall.  We first had to have the asbestos on the pipe removed and now the plumber will fix the leak.

ONGOING MISSION/EVANGELIZATION/GROWTH:  A key part of being a Christian… is remembering to pray!  We are doing God’s Will, not our own. (a tough lesson I have to grapple with over and over!)  And the way we know God’s will is through prayer.

     I recently watched a short video made by Bishop Robert Barron on 4 ways to grow the Church.  One important way that he stressed was to PRAY!  If you want to know the other 3 ways he suggests you’ll have to search YouTube for his recent video.

Peace of Christ!

Deacon David Southworth, Parish Manager