Evangelization Efforts

01-26-2020Pastor's LetterFr. John Ehrich

The Church, for many centuries, has evangelized peoples all across the globe. However, in a society that had been already evangelized those efforts naturally would diminish. If everyone is Christian, some might ask "why evangelize?" The reality is that evangelization should never stop as it constitutes the proclaiming of the essential message of Jesus Christ; that he is God and he died for our sins.

St. John Paul II called the Church to a "New Evangelization" some years ago. Unfortunately this effort was either not taken up or it became confused with catechesis. Catechesis (handing on the essential teachings of the faith) has a different objective from evangelization. However, evangelization needs to happen prior to catechesis, otherwise the content received through catechesis has very little meaning. In short, if people don't "know" Jesus, teaching them "about" Jesus becomes a merely intellectual exercise and is deprived of its most important element; a relationship with Christ.

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Welcome To All The New Families!

01-19-2020Pastor's LetterFr. John Ehrich

Some wonderful and amazing things are happening at our parish! More and more, each Sunday we are meeting numerous new families who are joining. In the last 3 weeks alone we have had 21 families join our parish and quite a few more join just this past weekend.

I had numerous people tell me they are from the area but are just finding us and coming back to Church. Others have heard about what's happening here and decided to give us a try and are making this their home. Time and time again this is what I am being told every weekend.

If you have not yet registered at St. Thomas More, please either do so via the website or in the parish office.

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The Doctrine of Concomitance

01-12-2020Pastor's LetterFr. John Ehrich

Dear Parishioners,

As you know, one of the distinctively Catholic beliefs is that the Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus, Himself, is truly and fully present whenever we receive either the consecrated Host or from the cup. This has been the belief of the Church since the time of the Apostles.

However, it is not uncommon for people to speak errantly about the Eucharist. Far too often I have heard people talk about receiving the "wine" or, receiving the "bread." We need to remember that we never receive wine at Communion, just like we never receive bread. We always receive the Body and Blood of Jesus. This is, in fact, the point. When the gifts are brought forward they are merely bread and wine. But by virtue of the prayer of the priest and the action of God, they become the Real Presence of Christ. They are no longer bread and wine.

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Holiday Thank You's

01-05-2020Pastor's LetterFr. John Ehrich

Dear Parishioners,

I would like to thank everyone for our wonderful Christmas celebrations. It takes quite a bit of coordination and numerous volunteers to do everything from decorate the church to ensure that our liturgies are well done.

I would like to thank all of our people who helped with the environment in the church, especially Nancy Kijewski and her team. All of our volunteers for the liturgies; lectors, ushers, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, and servers.

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