From Father Grassi - July 2, 2006
And so it all begins. What a privilege it is to be with you here at St. Gertrude Parish. And it is an even greater privilege to follow in the footsteps of such an incredible person, Bill Kenneally. It is ironic. I am a writer who today finds it hard to put into words what I am feeling as I begin my journey with you. Perhaps it is because I don’t as yet know your stories and you don’t know mine. So I hope to take the time to listen to you and to get to know you. I have asked the wonderful staff of the parish to each provide me with a list of parishioners with whom I should sit and talk and listen to as I begin my time here. As well, I will start to schedule on a monthly basis “Sunday Night Pasta With the Pastor”that anyone can sign up for as still another opportunity to get to know you. Please give me time. I will recognize your faces but not always be able to put names to them for a while. Some people have the gift of meeting people once and knowing their name forever. I am not good at that. So please keep telling me your names until I get it right.Many people I run into tell me what a special parish St. Gertrude is. I know that I am blessed. I am looking forward to becoming a part of the parish, earning your trust, and sharing God’s work together with you.
If I write a column in every bulletin for the next twelve years (and I hope to) I will have 623 more opportunities to share my thoughts and reflections with you. Together we will laugh and sometimes cry. We’ll support each other but also at times disagree. We’ll celebrate good news and struggle with our differences. We will have much to celebrate in our Eucharists together and hopefully nothing will keep us from the altar together.
Through it all I ask for your prayers so that I can always respond with the integrity necessary to be the priest and the pastor you need me to be. As we move further into the 21st century, St. Gertrude Parish will be the Church needed for ourselves and for the generations that will follow us. And so as I begin, we, all of us continue together. It is good to be home with you.
DJG
Filed under: From Fr. Grassi
