A Letter from Our Pastor
Dear parishioners of St. Paul Parish,
Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope. (1 Peter 3:15) This exhortation from St. Peter readies us for the mission we have been given as a Church—to proclaim the Gospel to all. We have encountered the living God in the Person of Jesus Christ, and this encounter has given us a hope the world cannot understand. Therefore, be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope. Share with others your encounter with Christ.
As representatives of our parish, our parish council has taken the last year to examine the results of our “Disciple Maker Index Survey”, to pray and discern how we can best use this information to advance our mission as St. Paul Parish, and to set concrete goals and objectives that will help us to put it into action. This roadmap is our 2025-2026 pastoral plan, A Reason for the Hope Within Us.
If our mission is to share Jesus with others, we must first know him. Our first goal is to encounter the Eucharistic Lord as the wellspring of our hope. Once we have encountered the Lord, we are called to follow. Our second goal is to understand and live out our call to be disciples of Jesus. Finally, we must be ready to give a reason for the hope within us. Our third goal is to grow in our ability to share our faith in Jesus with others.
As believers, we know that hope is not a wish. It is a person who invites us into a living relationship, who wants to animate our lives and bring us fulfillment and joy. When Christ our Hope enters us, we are filled with a desire to share this hope with others. But we don’t always know how. As a parish, let’s grow together through this year’s pastoral plan, praying for its success, getting involved, inviting others, so that we can be more effective witnesses of that hope within us. We know how much we need him in our lives. So many others do, too. May we sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts, and always stand ready to give a reason for the hope within us!
Fr. Matthew Zwilling
Pastor, St. Paul Parish