December 10, 2023

Dear Parish Family,

Advent keeps moving forward. We are now just two weeks away from Christmas. As we hurry and hustle, are busy and bustle, we can’t forget to prepare the manger of our hearts for the coming of Jesus.

There are some special things in the two weeks ahead in addition to Mass, devotions, and personal prayer:

Our Living Nativity is this Friday, December 15, 2023 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Make this drive-thru event a mini retreat as we view the events that lead up to the Birth of Our Lord. Please invite your family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers to join us as we witness to the true reason for the season.   

On Wednesday, December 20, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. we will have our Parish Advent Penance Service. Several priests will be here to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation with us. Please take this important opportunity to ready our hearts for Christmas. 

Next weekend, December 16/17, we will have blessed straw for you to take home to add to your Nativity Set.  Then on the weekend of December 23/24, we invite you to bring the baby Jesus from your Nativity Set to church with you. They will be blessed during Mass.

As Advent keeps moving forward, so does our parish staff. We welcome aboard Tracy Kovaleski as our Parish Business Manager. Tracy oversees the business operations of our parish including finances, buildings and properties. We welcome aboard Nora Valovage as our Parish Office Manager.  Nora oversees the services, programs, and resources provided to our parishioners from the parish office. Holly Wales has moved into the position of my Executive Assistant to coordinate the many details and administrative tasks that will help me serve you better. Please note that Tracy and Nora are our only full-time employees at this time. All other staff members are part-time.

Many thanks to everyone who is helping to prepare our parish campus for Christmas, inside and out.   I am very grateful to Jen Miller and her crew of amazing volunteers for their many, many, long hours and hard work. It is said that beauty is one of the key ways we encounter God. God is beautiful, and so beauty lead us to him. That is what we are trying to do here at Good Shepherd. 

Grace and peace,

Father Neil Sullivan