From the Pastor’s Desk:
In last Sunday’s Gospel from John, the feeding of the 5,000 is the only miracle story told in all 4 of the Gospels. It is an important story for all those who follow Christ. Perhaps it is of the importance that God wants us to know so that its lessons can be repeated in our own generation in our parish and in our world. God is still here with His love, smile and His ability to provide abundance out of what seems only to be scarcity.
The Convoy of Hope was begun by one family in 1994. It is a faith-based nonprofit organization who mission is to feed the hungry of the world through children’s feeding plans, community outreach and disaster response. Since it began 677,000 volunteers have served 163.7 million people. (1.3 billion worth of food and supplies have been given away) It came from one family’s vision following the death of their father. Of all the peoples of the world, the American people are the most generous, giving $309.666 billion in donations in 2019.
In the Gospel accounts it is Christ Himself who sees the need to provide the people with food to eat. The Apostle Andrew brings a boy to Jesus with 5 barley loaves and 2 fish. What good are they for 5,000 people? As Jesus gave thanks to His heavenly Father, He gave to the people to eat and they all had their fill. God has given our great nation the ability to feed not only the American people but hundreds of millions. Today an American farmer feeds approximately 155 people.
I want to thank everyone who gives to support our parish. Your donations in 2019 here at St. Agnes and the DDF are counted in that $309 Billion in 2019. Together we have done much meeting the needs of our parish, helping meet the needs of our Diocese, through our St. Vincent DePaul, Grace Methodist meals and the Well of Life helping meet the needs of the poor. I want to thank each of you.
As we begin to look to the needs of our parish and school now and in the future, the biggest need is for space. Space to meet, space to socialize, space to teach. We are more than maxed out. We need a Parish Center. In the weeks and months ahead I will be reaching out to many of you to serve on committees as we look to those needs.
It will take all of us to make a Parish Center a reality. We are standing on the shoulders of our grandparents who built the churches that are great houses of worship we worship in today across this nation. Together we can move forward as a parish meeting the needs of our parish today.