Dear Saints,

A couple weeks ago I wrote about the importance of bursting onto the scene with light and energy. By definition, that’s a very active reality. The Church is not meant to be a movie theater in which we simply watch someone else’s story unfold; rather, it’s a battlefield on which we bring the fight straight to the gates of hell and then breach them.

God has called each of us into that battle and has equipped us with everything we need to prevail. But one look at the crucifix tells us all we need to know about the nature of our armament: it is not the stuff of aggression, but of love.

Love, in turn, is not an abstract responsibility but a concrete commission; we fulfill it most significantly by ministering to each other and the larger community. That other-centeredness takes literally dozens of forms in our parish and I invite you to check out the many possibilities for service in our 2026-27 ministry booklet, available on our website (www.olmc.church/ministry-opportunities) or through the QR code below. From adoration to OCIA, church cleaners to nursing home visitors, your fellow parishioners daily take seriously our shared calling to be the light of Christ and so make their mark on a waiting world. As you flip through the book, I encourage you to find an activity or two that best speaks to your heart, and dive right in!

In some ways it might be easier if faith was just a movie about someone else, but God loves us too much to leave us out of his story. Instead, he intends for each of us to burst onto whatever scene he calls us into, every fiber of our being illuminated and energized by the same Resurrection power through which he won the most decisive battle of all.

Christ’s Peace,

Father Daniel

δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ