Welcome Letter

Beloved parishioners of St. Rose of Lima,

LETTER TO PARISHIONERS:

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.  I am delighted to be here as your new pastor since November.  I am grateful to our Bishop, Most Reverend John Noonan for granting me the privilege to serve you, the distinguished People of God in Poinciana and Kissimmee, Florida.  Gradually, with the passage of time and by the grace of God, I will get to know each parishioner better and you will get to know me better too.    

I am excited about the progress our parish has made so far and about the opportunities the Lord is providing us to work together for the advancement of the good news.  We are all undertaking a beautiful journey of faith, hope and love in the service of the Lord.  It is a relationship of interdependence as members of the one Body of Christ.  Everyone is very important, a spiritual celebrity.  Our diversity is an awesome blessing, fostering the experience of the universality of the Church.

Just as a few were saved through Noah’s Ark (cf. 1Pet 3:20), we are all in the Ark of Christ, the Church of the Living God, keeping us safe from the destructive “waves” and “Floods” of confusion, indifference and lack of faith in the world.  

We share a collective responsibility for the ongoing development and maintenance of our campus.   Please, let no one sit on the fence; we are all partners in progress.  The contribution of each one of us – in time, talent and treasure – is vital and needed for the success of our collective Mission at the service of the Kingdom.  In the words of St. Paul, “Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work” (1Cor 9:7-8). 

As your pastor, I promise to serve the LORD IN YOU in prayer, dedication, humility and love.  To this end, I make St. Paul’s words to the Church in Corinth my words to the Church of St. Rose of Lima in Poinciana/Kissimmee: “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls” (2Cor 12:15).  May God bless you and your households, grant you good health in mind and body and lead you to greater accomplishments in His service, through Christ our Lord.  Amen.