“Brothers and sisters: May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you.” (1 Thes 3:12)
During this week when our country celebrates “Thanksgiving Day,” I want to express my thanksgiving to so many of you for your goodness to me. This past weekend with the Archbishop made me realize how truly blessed I am to be living in such a wonderful parish. Without meaning to exclude anyone, I do want to mention in particular a few people. First, I’m grateful to our Archbishop for his pastoral leadership and pastoral presence that made last Sunday so important in terms of promoting unity in our parish. Second, I want to express my deep gratitude to the leadership of the former Our Lady of Good Counsel and St. Henry parishes for their promoting participation in the Eucharistic procession and Mass. On Sunday, we literally “followed Christ” together as our Archbishop carried Him through our streets.
In terms of organization, I am grateful to Kathy Fayard and Renee Torina for organizing the procession. I am also grateful to our DRE, Phillip Bellini, our parish secretary, Dixie Williams, and our able volunteers for keeping things organized and working together. Brian Morgan prepared the program and led the music in and out of the church, Liam Cousino is the reason the cross is standing in the church, and Hunter Harris and Rosary Henry (and their many friends) are the reason we ate so well! Special thanks also goes out to my friend John Rowland at Southern Hospitality Catering who donated a lot of the food, and Jude Trahant and Dudley Vandenborre, who caught the fish! And I am most profoundly grateful for so many of you unnamed parishioners who remember me in your prayers. Without them I could not weather the spiritual attacks.
I have much to be grateful to as your pastor. It’s a humbling position. I’ll never be able to fully express my thanksgiving to you. But please know that I do express my thanksgiving to God for you every time I celebrate Mass. It’s the greatest form of thanksgiving I can make. And that’s actually what the word “Eucharist” means in Greek. It means “thanksgiving.” So when I offer my Eucharist “for all parishioners” on Sunday, please know that I’m offering it for each of your personally. I may sometimes be lax in effectively thanking you, but I thank God for you daily.
Rev. Msgr. Christopher H. Nalty
msgr.nalty@gmail.com
