St James begins to bustle with activity in August and September. School is back in full swing and this past week our apostolates, ministries, and faith formation opportunities started back to life! Our Parish Picnic was a wonderful time and the Lord held off the rain until the end! The hamburgers and hotdogs were excellent and grilled perfectly by the Men’s Club. The sides and fixings were perfect by all who brought them and the Council of Catholic Women. The kids had a great and wet time with the waterslide, playground, and cornhole. What a great afternoon! Next year’s goal will be to surpass 100 people there!
OCIA (formerly known as RCIA) began this past week and we have a wonderful class! The Bible Studies and That Man Is You cranked up nicely. On Wednesday evenings, we will have a little book study on Dr. Brant Pitre’s book, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist. Come join us at 6:30 on Wednesday Evenings! Prayer groups begin their year after a summer break. Everything starts full force!
As life gets back into swing and the schedules return, I have a challenge to each of us in our St. James Community. Three areas of our discipleship of Christ need to be nurtured: spiritual/relational with Jesus, intellectual understanding of the Gospel and Church teaching, and service to our community home and abroad. My challenge is this: do something in each of these areas this year. How will you grow your prayer life? Perhaps take an hour of Adoration in our Lumen Christi Adoration Chapel each week or begin to pray for 15 minutes each day. How will you deepen your understanding of the truths of the Gospel? Perhaps joining a Bible Study or TMIY or Wednesday Evening Formation. How will you serve our parish community and our broader community? Perhaps you can be a lector or an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion or assist by driving donations down to the migrant workers or help organize the Sharing Tree for Christmas. Whatever you decide to do, the desire is that we are better and better disciples of Jesus Christ by this time next year!
Let’s pray for each other as we launch into all of these wonderful opportunities! May God who has begun the good work in you bring it to fulfillment and bring success to the works of our hands!
May you and your families have a wonderful week and may the blessings of Almighty God be upon you!
~ Fr. Daniel Firmin