It is such a blessing we have as a Parish Family to be able to live, work, play and enjoy our lives in Naples, FL, whether that is all year long, or just a few weeks at a time. We are especially thankful to everyone who enters our church doors during these holiday weeks. Many are friends and relatives. Others are guests who may have never set foot on our campus before. For those who have been away for a while, welcome home. I wanted to take this chance to inform those individuals who are not involved in our parish weekly about what we are up to, as a specific parish as well as a Catholic Church. It has been an exciting year to be a Catholic, from Pope Francis’ visit to the United States to the Meeting of Bishops on Family, to our amazing Capital Campaign. The St. John Mission: To Know, To Love, and To Serve God, is integrated into everything we do here, and we cannot wait to share our future with you.
Catholic Church Celebrates Year of Mercy
For all the fear, pain, and suffering going on around the world (and right here in our own backyard), we must continue to illustrate that acts of terror will not change who we are and what we believe. The Year of Mercy is the Catholic Church’s call for all of us to live our God’s mercy in our everyday actions, with works of mercy, love and reconciliation. Jubilees (what this Year of Mercy is called) are special years in our faith for the remission of sins and universal pardons. Normally occurring every 50 years or so, this Extraordinary Jubilee was only announced in March. I hope you all will have your hearts filled with His love during your time here at St. John and then go out and spread that love in our neighborhoods and world around us. This should be especially true with our actions to welcome and include those that have traditionally felt excluded from our church. Our church is universal and should be a safe haven for all.
Field Hospital for Humanity
In one of his first interviews as Pope, Our Holy Father clearly illustrated his mindset for the Catholic Church:
The thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else. Heal the wounds, heal the wounds. – Pope Francis 9/19/2013
Pope Francis is focusing us all on the big picture. We can find love, joy, and peace together not with lots of rules and regulations, but with building a welcoming community and showcasing the happiness that comes with a personal relationship with Jesus through the sacraments. Cardinal Tagle sums it up perfectly:
We are one Church, one home, one family. The Church must embody the redemptive mission of God… [L]et us recognize our own wounds. Facing our own wounds will enable us to be compassionate and understanding to the wounded… [W]e must accept that the Church is a field hospital. We should be ready to respond in emergency cases. We should be prompt with creative solutions. We should be agile and flexible… [W]e should be infuse the field hospital with hope. We cannot be healers if we look desperate. I don’t know how those glum looking people could even generate trust and healing. Smile please. – Cardinal Luis Tagle 9/24/2015
From the doors of our church to every place you see a Parish Family member out in the community, I hope you are seeing our smiling faces, helping and enjoying each other and all those around us.
Capital Campaign Success Welcomes Community to St. John Campus
Finally, I am so excited to educate all of you about our Capital Campaign. This campaign’s main thrust has been to renew our facilities and create new programs in the area that are both uniquely Catholic, like Catholic Youth Organization, and will make St. John a home-away-from-home for parishioners and residents in the local area. We are a comfortable, engaging place where individuals from 3 to 97 (and beyond) can be fed, body, mind, soul, and spirit. From senior wellness activities and bocce leagues to after-school programs and pick-up basketball games after work, there is something for everyone. Even for those who are here for a short time, they can stroll over and get a cup of coffee after Mass, or enjoy our facilities for a few months, instead of paying for a yearly membership fee to a gym.
We have reached our core goal to implement our new Life Center and these programs. The future is incredibly bright here at St. John and we want to include all of you in it. We will be posting specific ground-breaking dates and renovation schedules very soon!
Merry Christmas and God Bless You All!