September 13, 2026 •Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Parish Family,

This is a weekend we will remember for many years to come. After years of planning, weeks of worshiping together in our “Summer Church,” and the hard work and generosity of so many people, we return home to a church renewed, restored, and ready once again to serve as the spiritual home of Good Shepherd Parish.

At the heart of our celebration is the dedication of our new altar. Upon this altar, the sacrifice of Christ will be made present in the Eucharist; here bread and wine will become for us the Body and Blood of the Lord; here generations yet to come will gather around the table of the Lord.  And at the center of our sanctuary, the tabernacle now takes its place as the visible heart of our church—the dwelling place of Christ truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. It reminds us that everything we are and everything we do as a parish begins and ends with Jesus Christ. 

There is much that is beautiful in our renewed church: marble and wood, sacred art and furnishings, light and color, music and architecture. We should rejoice in that beauty. But none of it exists simply to be admired. Sacred beauty has a purpose: to lead us to God.

This weekend is not merely about a building project. It is an invitation to the renewal of a parish. As our church has been renewed, may we be renewed. As our altar is dedicated, may we rededicate ourselves to Christ. As the tabernacle takes its place at the center of our sanctuary, may Christ take an ever deeper place at the center of our lives.

I am profoundly grateful to everyone who has made this moment possible: our parish staff, councils and committees;  contractors, artisans and craftspeople; volunteers; and the many parishioners whose extraordinary generosity has allowed us to undertake this work. So many have given their time, talent, treasure, patience, prayer, and love to bring us to this day.  We have been blessed by and are eternally grateful for the extraordinary talent, wisdom, hard work, creativity, and dedication of Jen Miller, our Parish Manager, who has given so much in developing, leading, and executing this project.

And there is another great blessing for our parish this weekend. Mike Nowakowski was ordained to the Sacred Order of Deacons. As we dedicate an altar upon which Christ’s sacrifice will be celebrated, one of our own is ordained to a life of service in the name of Christ, who came “not to be served but to serve.” What a remarkable convergence of grace for Good Shepherd Parish.

Welcome home, Good Shepherd!  But we have not come back simply to things as they were. The Lord is calling us forward.  May this renewed church be filled with prayer. May this altar be surrounded by generations of faithful disciples. May Jesus dwelling in our tabernacle draw us ever closer to himself. May the poor find compassion here, the grieving find consolation, sinners find mercy, children discover faith, families find strength, and every person who enters these doors know that they have entered a house where Christ dwells among his people.

Grace and peace!
Father Neil Sullivan