FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK - MAY 19, 2023

Dear St. Martin’s Parishioners,

A blessed Feast of the Ascension! Forty days after his glorious Resurrection, Jesus ascends into heaven, thereby uniting heaven and earth in a common life and worship. Jesus says, “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance” (Lk. 15:7). In another place he says to his apostles, “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven,” and, “if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven” (Mat. 18:18-19). We see that because of the Ascension the life of heaven and earth are bound inextricably. Nowhere is this more the case than in the celebration of Mass. When we celebrate Mass we are participating in the heavenly worship of God described in detail in the book of Revelation. To learn more about this, I encourage you to check out Scott Hahn’s talk on Formed titled, The Lamb’s Supper. The more we realize how intimately linked our lives are with the life of heaven, the more alive our faith becomes.

In two weeks we celebrate our Annual Field Mass and Parish Picnic. The trilingual mass begins at 12:00pm on the Fr. Meyer Field and is followed by the Picnic. There is no 1:30pm Mass that afternoon. This is one of those events where the diverse communities and ministries of our parish come together in a way only St. Martin’s can pull off. I hope that many of you will come out to celebrate as a parish family the miracle and joy of our faith.

Thank you for your continued generosity to our parish pantry. Our reserves continue to be pretty low in some areas, so please check out our weekly updates to see where we are most in need.

In Christ,

Fr. Dave