Dear Friends in Christ,

On this 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Christ assures us of a place in His Kingdom - a kingdom not made of gold, silver or precious gems which have no eternal value.  It is a Kingdom built on Christ's everlasting love, founded on His salvific Cross.

O how Christ longs to gather us all to the Kingdom of His Heart. O how He desires that in all our loneliness, in all our woundedness, in the brokenness of our sins, in the emptiness of our withered souls, we might find a welcome place of rest, a refuge of strength, an anchor of hope in the haven of His Sacred Heart.  

This Sunday, let us allow the Spirit of the Lord to lift us to this haven of the Lord's bountiful throne.  Let us, in thanksgiving, savor the gift of His Eucharistic sacrifice and adore together the Divine Cross of our salvation, the Tree of Life, that is Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.  Let us celebrate together, for the Lord awaits us.  Let us nest on His Branch and place all our anxieties, troubles and fears into His merciful loving hands.    

As we surrender all to the Lord in trust and with repentance, He will nurture within our hearts the seeds of merciful kindness and generous love to be shared to all.  He will endow us with the grace and strength to bear fruits for the coming of His Kingdom which He has prepared for all of us, His beloved children.  As the Lord has spoken, so will He fulfill His promise. 

In Christ, with grateful prayers,

Rev. Jonathan Paala

And all the trees of the field shall know
    that I, the LORD,
bring low the high tree,
    lift high the lowly tree,
wither up the green tree,
    and make the withered tree bloom.
As I, the LORD, have spoken, so will I do. (Ezekiel 17:24)