Our parish has been blessed with many people who would like to participate in the life of the community, in one way or the other. If you were to ask them how they experienced community before being invited to serve, and afterwards, once they began serving, I wonder what they would say?
That they felt more connected to people, that serving helped them to get to know other people in the parish better, as they themselves were better known. I think that the act of service, the act of participating in the life of the community forges a bond between all of us because we are now invested in one another. We are moved to appreciation by those who serve and those who serve develop a deeper sense of compassion for those to whom they minister.
It is through participation in the life of the community that we and others are enriched and transformed. We do this to one another through our genuine fellowship, a journeying together that enables us to grow deeper in love for Christ and His Church. Isn’t this ultimately the purpose of the community that we call Church? To help others encounter the love of God, that they may be transformed by it. There many catch phrases we use to
describe what it is we are being transformed into: friends in the Lord, Missionary disciples of Christ, ambassadors of Christ and so. Maybe the simplest and most beautiful of all is a single word: Love. We are being created anew in the image and likeness of God who is above all LOVE.
As we end our three weeks focus on the vision of the parish, I invite you to truly become part of this community, and part of our journey, so that together, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can encounter the love of Jesus and share it with the world. On Saturday 28 September, at 18h00 in the hall, you are invited to join us for an evening of reflecting together on our parish Vision Statement, and then to stay a while afterwards as we continue getting to know each other over some light refreshments. We will have a repetition of this session on Sunday 5 October, at 10h30 in the hall. I hope that you will be able to accept the invitation.
