Pastor's Note from Fr. Szparagowski 📝 - [October 4th Bulletin]

Dear St. Philip Neri Family and Friends,

We give praise and thanks to God for His graces and blessings!

The readings today remind us that God has given us so many blessings, so much love, and so many opportunities to live in His grace. There are times, we turn away. At times, like the tenants in the Gospel, we refuse what God is offering us. We choose our own way. We choose sin. We choose things that can take us farther away from God. What is so beautiful about God is that He never gives up on us.

Even when we turn away from Him, God continues to come back to us. He continues to offer His love, His mercy, His pardon, and His forgiveness. He continually calls us home. He desires to reconcile our relationship with Him and to bring us closer to His heart.

Think about how many times we have wounded the heart of God through our sins, our failures, our selfishness, or the times we have refused to listen to Him. Yet, God does not turn His back on us. He does not say, you have failed too many times. Instead, He looks upon us with gentle, loving, and caring eyes and says, come back to Me. This is the mercy of God.

Sometimes we may think that we have to do something extraordinary before God will forgive us. The truth is that God is already waiting for us. In many ways, His mercy is there before we even think to ask for it. His heart is already open. His arms are already extended. The grace is already being offered. We simply have to receive it, Jesus is always there for us, calling us back home.

He calls us to trust Him again. He calls us to place our lives into His hands. He calls us to come to Confession, to receive His forgiveness, to receive the Eucharist, and to remain close to Him. How great is the love of Christ! His grace, His blessings, His mercy, and His love are greater than anything we could ever imagine.

Today, we also remember the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, who died in1226. St. Francis, known as the Poor Little One, gave his heart completely to God. He sought to live simply, humbly, and obediently, trusting that God would provide everything he needed.

St. Francis understood something very important: everything comes from God, and everything should lead us back to God. As we remember St. Francis, let us ask him to pray and intercede for us. May his example help us to become more humble, more trusting, more loving, and more obedient to the Lord.

May we, like St. Francis, be able to say with our whole heart: Lord, take my life, take my heart, and use me for Your glory. May God give us the grace to remain close to Him, to follow Him faithfully, and to receive with gratitude the love, mercy, grace, and blessings He is continually pouring into our lives. St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us.

I pray for you every day, especially at Mass. Please pray for me.

Please invite someone to Mass today.

St. Philip Neri, pray for us. Have a blessed week,

Fr. Szparagowski