4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Epiphany Family,

I want to again remind and invite everyone to our Facilities and Mission meeting in the Cardinal Stritch cafeteria this weekend – Sunday, January 29th from 2-4pm, doors open at 1:30 with light snacks and the meeting starts promptly at 2pm. More of the story of our process and experience as a Task Force will be shared, along with time for discussion at tables and feedback submitted from these discussions to better inform our Facilities and Mission Task Force and councils (Finance and Pastoral) in their discernment of recommendations to Bishop Thomas regarding our facilities. God is with us and invites us to share in the Paschal Mystery, Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection through this process so that new life can come from His leading of this process. We have all gone through changes and challenges in our lives in which we did not know how things would look on the other side, but hopefully have seen how God has brought about new life and light where it had been hard to see or imagine (whether the loss of a loved one, loss of a job, changing jobs, moving, moving away from home, overcoming an illness or disease, etc.). The challenges/opportunities of life can best be viewed through the lens of the Paschal Mystery, knowing that the Lord is with us and can bring something better than we can imagine. The Lord wants us to be a fruitful, vibrant, parish to share the love and hope of Jesus with the East Toledo community and beyond.

On Saturday morning January 7th, our Pastoral and Finance Councils and a few ministry heads got together for a “Mission” morning facilitated by Bret Huntebrinker of the diocesan office of Discipleship and Family Life. It was a lively, hopeful, and challenging morning as we worked through a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis for our parish and began to answer crucial questions to help us better focus on our mission as a parish. After the SWOT analysis we began to prayerfully consider the question, “Why do we exist (as a parish)?” The collaboration of our parish leadership answered, “Our sacred purpose at Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Parish is to reveal Jesus to the East Toledo community by our witness, through Sacraments, Worship, and Service”. We also answered the question of “How do we behave (or how should we behave to fulfill our sacred purpose)?” with Welcoming Others Joyfully, Building Community Intentionally, and Sharing Jesus Humbly. We will again meet in the future to answer more questions to help us live this out. Please keep praying for our parish and trust that the Lord is working in and through each of us if we only open our hearts.

In Christ,
Father Eric