Message From Father McCabe | St. Joseph Catholic Church

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Welcome to St. Joseph Parish!

It is really good to be with you! The Catechism of the Catholic Church begins: God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness, freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Savior. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life. (CCC 1) The ultimate purpose of our life is to be in union with God who made us for Himself. This is true in its fullest sense in reaching the goal of entering Heaven, at the end of our life, in order to see God face to face. That is certainly the end goal of the life of faith and the pursuit of religion. But, in addition, each of us is invited by God to share in His blessed life now, even in an imperfect way. The Father sent the Son not only to open the gates of Heaven for us, but also to reveal the Father's love for us, to reveal our blessedness in that love, and to reveal the joy and power of living in the midst of that love while still in this life. This is the life of discipleship. We are invited by God to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and to experience all that His life has to offer.

Dr. Edward Sri, in his book Into His Likeness, describes the life of a disciple in this way: In the first-century world of Jesus, being a disciple was all about one key word: imitation. When a disciple followed a rabbi, he lived with the rabbi, shared meals with the rabbi, prayed with the rabbi, and studied with the rabbi. The goal of the disciple wasn't merely to master his rabbi's teachings, but to imitate the way he lived - the way he prayed, worked, trusted in God's providence, helped the poor, lived friendship, and served the people. So if we are going to be disciples of Jesus today, we must aim for a lot more than believing a set of doctrines and following the rules of our faith. (Into His Likeness 4-5) The purpose of religion, and of the Catholic Faith, and of our parish, is about much more than fulfilling obligations and becoming morally strong. The purpose is to help people to enter into the life of the Trinity now, and more and more, until they reach the perfect fulfillment of that life in the glory of Heaven. Everything our parish does should be ordered to assisting you into that kind of relationship with God - through the sacraments, prayer, study, and service.

You are invited to enter into that discipleship relationship with Jesus and thereby share in the life of the Blessed Trinity. We're excited for you to experience the life-changing effects of sacramental grace and contemplative prayer. The leaders in our parish want to make that life of discipleship readily accessible and constantly growing stronger. When the effects of your relationship with Jesus are fully recognized, you'll be part of that leadership in our parish family with the opportunity to help others experience a personal relationship with the Lord in their own life.

May God bless you and draw you close!

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Jay Buhman

Pastor

Message from Father Buhman