It is a kind uplifting moment this weekend to celebrate the feast of the birthday of John the Baptist, the precursor of Jesus. This is a universal celebration in our Catholic’s tradition that gives us an incentive of the importance of John in the history of salvation. As we look at the person of John the Baptist the first word that can comes to our mind is conversion. John was a man of profound faith and continued conversion. His message was all about conversion: “Repent because the kingdom of God is at hand”. John truly understands how the dynamic of God’s grace works. He knew and understood that no one can achieve the full maturity of faith without a constant and permanent experience of conversion. Our experience of true Christianity teaches that conversion it is not like one deal done. It is mostly about a lifelong experience of a constant desire to change because through conversion we are able to show to the rest of the world the true value of our Christian faith.
What can we learn from today’s celebration as we remember the greatest of all the prophets? The first thing that I would say is: Looking at the reality of our lives, there is an invitation to change our aggressive mentality into something that is more suitable to the core of our Christians values. The second thing is to little by little rediscover the sacred silence and the sacred light that have always instilled in us the desire to listen to God asking us to try again and again. And last, the willingness to take together and pondered prayerfully consider to appreciate more and more the careful and loving initiative of God calling toward a more intimate experience with Him.
Brief update: As I mentioned to you before; on June 4th, we have begun the work for the renovation of the Parish Hall. So far, the project is going very well and we hope to be on schedule for the completion. The finishing will be beautiful. As I mentioned before, the Hall is a great asset for the school and the parish. Through the dedication of the principal we were able to secure from two different foundations an amount of 200,000.00. The parish continues to count on your generosity to be able to cover the cost which is $368,482.00 and it does not included a new AC Unit and furniture.
New Roof: Because of rain, the contractor has to delay the work on the roofs. We hope to resume it as soon as we have good weather. As I stated before, all these roofs have been damaged by the hurricane Irma in 2017, and are covered under the insurance, however, our deductible will be $143,600.00. Once again I will appreciate your help to fulfill our task. I am very aware of the sacrifices you have made to provide generously for the parish in order to be where we are today. Once again, I anticipate thanking you for your contribution and support. I pray that God our Father will grant you and your families his countless blessing.
Rev. Ducasse Francois, Pastor