St. Gregory Church recently issued the following announcement.

Perhaps WE recognize this as Bishop Zubik’s motto.  Better yet, maybe WE even remember these as the words of the Archangel Gabriel spoken to Mary as he invited her to become the Virgin Mother of God and followed up with the sign of her aged relative Elizabeth being with child. These may have been the only angelic words that Mary would ever hear again until her assumption into heaven. Nonetheless, Mary held fast to these words and reflected on them in her heart. These words sustained her through the birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of her Son, Jesus. These words, and the truth they stand for, are meant to sustain US as well.WE have been invited, challenged, and commissioned to do something that was not on OUR radar and in a timeframe that WE had not anticipated.  

WE have been called to give birth to a new reality – a merged parish – that until two years ago was not even heard of or contemplated by US. Yet, as proof that this is necessary and possible, WE are given the testimony of many other parish Groupings that have successfully merged into one new parish.  In fact, WE are set to be in the last wave so as to benefit from the witness of these other new parishes and the experience of OUR Diocesan guides. WE can treasure in OUR hearts what WEhave seen and what WE have heard to guide and sustain US.     

Yes, there will be a new life, of which WE will all be proud, something that is a part of all of US. WE will all see a little of ourselves –OUR faith composition or genetic material – in  this new parish. However, as with a marriage and newborn, some of whom we are as individual parishes must give way to whom WE shall become as a new merged parish. The way we think for today will need to broaden into the way WE think for the future of OUR tomorrow. What is comfortable and familiar for us today may need to give way to what is necessary and possible for God tomorrow. My time, my place, my pew, and my parking space will of necessity transition into OUR (whatever). WE live out the dying with Christ so that WE can live out the rising with Christ.     

The goal is not new for new’s sake but a rising to a resurgence of new life that keeps US on a trajectory that continues US on OUR journey of faith to the Lord.  WE are embarking on a journey that leads US–collectively and individually – to what God wants of US and where God wants US to be.  Under God’s watchful eye, WE will change so that WE can grow. WEwill look at life in better ways and utilize OUR resources for better outcomes. WE will collaborate in seeing the value and uniqueness of one another. WE will be willing to die so that WE can live. The birth, death, resurrection, and ascension will no longer be mere stories or symbols but will become OUR life of faith that WE ponder over deep within OUR hearts. They are, and will forever be, fact because Nothing is Impossible with God.God Bless The Cities of God

Original source can be found here.