Brief Feedback on the Parish Census

03-16-2024Weekly ReflectionFr. Robert Aliunzi

My Dear Friends,

“However big a tree is, it cannot make a forest” (African Proverb).

This past weekend, we had our Parish Census exercise during which over 600 of you registered or updated your information. Since I do not have any precedence to compare these numbers with, I consider the entire exercise, a great success already. This fact is also corroborated by numerous positive feedback I have been receiving during this entire week. Know that the Census is still ongoing for those of you who have not yet done so till mid-April.

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Participate in the Census Today! Jesus Himself Did It.

03-09-2024Weekly ReflectionFr. Robert Aliunzi

My Dear Friends,

For the past two weeks, we have been inviting you to participate in our Parish Census, giving reasons as to why it is important to do so. My invitation still continues especially today when we begin our actual Census exercise. Did you know that a census is so important that one of the most significant events in Salvation History, that involved God being ushered into our world as a child happened around a census? The Gospel of Luke connects the birth of Jesus to a "worldwide census" ordered by Augustus Caesar in which individuals had to return to their ancestral cities to be counted. Jesus' parents, Joseph, and Mary, had to travel about 90 miles from their home in Nazareth, Galilee, to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. Yes, the birth of Jesus happened around a census, that’s how important a census is.

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Stewardship: Sharing Our Treasures with the Poor

03-02-2024Weekly ReflectionFr. Robert Aliunzi

My Dear Friends,

The three spiritual activities recommended for us to embrace during the Lenten seasons are Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving. In one of my previous articles, I reflected on Prayer as an important component of Stewardship. In this article, I would like to reflect on the aspect of almsgiving in the context of sharing our treasures with the poor.

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The Parish Census

02-24-2024Weekly ReflectionFr. Robert Aliunzi

My Dear Friends,

In one of my articles several weeks ago, I indicated that one of my focuses for this year will be on emphasizing Stewardship as a way of life here in our parish. However, in order to better plan for the parish, I also pointed out that we shall be conducting a census in order to determine the size and needs of our parish. This is because, over these last few years, we have navigated through many transitions, including the Covid-19 pandemic, the post-pandemic, and multiple leadership transitions in our parish. These changes have resulted in a series of minor changes in virtually every part of our Parish Community.

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Some Practical Proposals for this Lenten Season

02-17-2024Weekly ReflectionFr. Robert Aliunzi

Friends,

I bring you very warm greetings from my family, students, and friends in Uganda. This particular vacation was very eventful for me because it was characterized by many joys and a great conference on the Impact of Peace on Education for the students and staff of St. Thomas Aquinas College which I helped establish in Uganda. However, it also had its share of sadness due to the sudden loss of two priest-classmates and a nephew all in the space of three weeks last month.

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Ash and Love

02-10-2024Weekly ReflectionFr. Gabriel Terrill

Dear Friends,

“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

When we hear these words, the first thing that comes to mind likely is not, “Wow, what a great pick up line!” In fact, these words may cause anxiety or melancholy in our hearts. However, these words appear as we begin this Lenten Season and encounter a fascinating intersection between what has become a somewhat kitschy, secular celebration wherein romantically involved couples exchange chocolates and love notes and go out for an expensive meal in the name of an early church martyr who was beheaded for bringing the Eucharist to imprisoned Christians, Saint Valentine, and the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday.

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My Vocation Story

02-04-2024Weekly ReflectionFr. Gabriel Terrill

Dear Friends,

When I was ordained to the priesthood on June 5, 2020, surrounded by family, friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ, I was profoundly aware that my ordination and indeed my future as a priest was a result, not of my own competency or fittingness, but of the many people who supported me along my vocational journey. Ever since I was a young boy I wanted to be a priest, but what kept that immature desire alive and allowed it to grow was the support and encouragement of family members, parishioners, and strangers.

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