The Sacred Heart and Looking Ahead
Dear Parishioners of Our Lady of Divine Providence Family of Parishes,
A very Happy Feast of The Body and Blood of the Lord to all of you. It’s June already! I hope you have been enjoying the beautiful weather, and vacations and summer fun. It’s also the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of our country, the Bishops of the US are going to consecrate our country to the Sacred Heart on Thursday, June 11, the eve of the Feast of the Sacred Heart. They have asked everyone to join in consecrating ourselves to the Sacred Heart, which Our Family of Parishes will do at the evening Mass on Friday, June 12 at 7:00 PM at St. Clare.
As we end this fiscal year and enter my second year as pastor, I would be remiss to not highlight all of the good work of the staff as well as our many volunteers. There are a couple particular examples I would like to bring to your attention. Firstly, Mike Geiger became the Interim Director of Administration during a very challenging time. He did a lot of hard work at personal cost to himself and time away from his family (Thanks also to his wife, Annette, for letting us have him for so long!). Mike’s last gift to the parishes was the great care he took to ensure that Marc Webb, our new Director of Administration, was ready to hit the ground running. Marc will finish up the end of fiscal year financial reports soon, which will be shared with the Family. These reports will show that while there is work to do, we have accomplished a lot (especially with the help of the finance councils) and that we are headed in the right direction.
The second example is Anne Ketzer and the Parish Council at Assumption. They have done a tremendous amount of hard work in preparing for the sale of the rectory. They did an amazing job, which will pay dividends in the sale and we (and I, in particular) owe them a great debt of gratitude. Thank you for your hard work and dedication! It’s not easy, but you handled it with poise and grace.
To wrap up this week, I want to give you a more detailed update on my meeting with the Archbishop, specifically some changes for the future. First, a bit of background: last year, I understood my direction as the new pastor was to begin the Beacons of Light process and try to catch up on several years of deferred work. We have really accomplished a lot, but moving forward, I need to be more balanced. I know I’m a first-time pastor, and I look forward to learning better how to do this.
The Archbishop encouraged me to focus on a more pastoral approach: the personal side of being Pastor and less on the administrative side of the role. This means going forward, I will prioritize being more present with parishioners and really getting to know you. This is certainly a much more enjoyable part of being pastor than administration! Additionally, I heard that I am approaching the parish too intellectually rather than personally. I hear you, and I will be working on this as well. I hope you will see that as we go forward.
While this year has been difficult, we have made good progress in Beacons of Light, financially and administratively. Thank you for all the help and prayers in the past and, I hope, in the future. Let us love one another with the love of the Sacred Heart, imitating our Lady, cooperating with Divine Providence.
Yours in Christ, with Mary,
Fr. Henry Hoffmann
