Transitions of Faith: Advent, Gospel of Luke, and Parish Updates

This Sunday we transition to a new liturgical year and begin the wonderful season of Advent.

One of the greatest changes we experience as we begin a new year in the church’s liturgy is the change from where our Sunday Gospel readings generally come.  We are beginning cycle “C”, where the Gospel readings are mostly taken from the Gospel of Saint Luke.  There are a few unique things about the Gospel of Luke.  We receive all of the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary from Luke’s Gospel.  In addition, Luke has some amazing parables, including, “The Good Samaritan” and “The Prodigal Son.”  Of the Gospel writers, Luke gives us the most information about Mary and the childhood of Jesus.  Luke also is the only Gospel writer to mention the Holy Spirit, speaks more about the women who surrounded Jesus, and traces the genealogy back further than Matthew did, going all the way back to Adam.  We have much to look forward to this year from the Gospel of Saint Luke.

With Advent we bring some simplicity to our Mass.  There is no Gloria sung, except for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on December 9 (moved this year because December 8 is on a Sunday of Advent).  The music should provide a sense of mystery, calmness, and anticipation.  Each of the first readings for the four Sundays of Advent are taken from a different prophet and they provide us a prophet’s vision.

But the liturgical year and Advent are not the only transitions we are experiencing.  There are two other transitions to share with you this week.

Andrew Kreye is a young man from our parish who, for the past three and a half years, has been studying to become a diocesan priest for our diocese.  Recently, Andrew called both Father Dan and me to inform us that he has decided to discontinue his studies and formation toward becoming a priest.  We know that this decision was made after considerable prayer and discernment.

It is important for us to remember that the seminary is a place where a man goes to discern the call to being a priest.  One does not enter knowing his call.  As our Bishop and Vocation Director wrote, a good seminary should have men coming in and men going out, all aimed at following the Lord's voice, whether to priesthood or down another path.  While it's sad for us who desire more priests to see a man leave seminary formation, we celebrate that Andrew is following the path the Lord has laid out for him.  We are grateful for the commitment of time and effort Andrew has given to priestly discernment.  Let's continue to support Andrew into the future and hold him in prayer as we believe he will do great things for the Lord and our Church.

Earlier this month we received a letter of resignation from Mae Wolfe.  Mae has served our parish for the past seven and a half years, handling our accounting needs.  Mae helped us through our transition of former parish administrators, prepared documents to apply for Covid relief funds, and managed our finances as we have grown the past few years to now being a church with an annual budget that exceeds $3.5 million.  We are greatly indebted to the work Mae has done, thank her for her service, and wish her well as she takes the next steps that the Lord has in store for her.

Taking on Mae’s responsibilities will be no easy task.  I am pleased to share with you that we have hired Scott Jacobi to do just that.  Scott recently was able to take an early retirement from Best Buy and is eager to now work with Saint Patrick Parish.  Scott and his wife Rebecca are active members of Saint Patrick Parish.  Their three children are graduates of our school.  Scott has already begun learning from Mae.  Mae will finish with us in the next week or so but will be on speed dial at least for a while.

With the hiring of Scott, his wife Rebecca Jacobi will be resigning as chair and member of our Parish Finance Council.  In the coming weeks, I will announce the appointment of a new Parish Finance Council chair.  I am grateful for the leadership Rebecca has offered these past years and know she will find other ways to serve our parish.