Welcome to 2025

by Rev. Gabriel Baltes, O.S.B.  |  01/12/2025  |  A Message from Our Pastor

Dear Parishioners,

I wish all of you a blessed New Year filled with peace, promise, and good health. At the dawn of each new year, many of us make bold declarations such as, "I know this is going to be a good year," or "This new year has got to be better than the last one." While hope springs eternal, we all know that every year has its share of blessings and challenges, both of which are somewhat relative depending on individuals. Nonetheless, we place our trust in God, believing that throughout the next 12 months, we will experience God’s abiding presence in both the blessings and the challenges as we ultimately pray, with Jesus, "not my will, but yours be done."

I offer my deepest gratitude to all our parishioners who made this past Christmas season joyful, meaningful, and replete with memories. The latter includes those from our Centennial Celebration, most especially our parish banquet in November (even though this preceded the Advent/Christmas season) and the solemn Mass on December 14 with Bishop Hicks, who saw our newly enhanced church interior for the first time. Those of you who attended this liturgy heard the complimentary words of the bishop and witnessed his grateful presence at both the Mass and the reception that followed.

While the vast majority of the church enhancements were accomplished as intended, I have not forgotten that there are several that still must happen. One of these is the completion of the devotional area in which the statue of the Virgin Mary and the glass panels of the saints are enshrined. Right now, it is a matter of coordinating the labors of the architect, who is suggesting we re-configure the panels, and the electrician who will design their illumination. This task is of high priority.

A second enhancement that needs to occur is replacing the hooks on the two panels that flank the Crucifixion window so that we can display our seasonal banners once again. This will require renting a mechanical lift in order to reach the height at which the banners will be displayed. There simply was not enough time to make this happen before Advent.