Exiit qui seminat

Over the past several weeks, I have once again been reminded of the tremendous generosity of the people of St. Padre Pio Parish. Not only have so many of you volunteered your time and your talents to help make the 20th Annual Padre Pio Festival a success (and thank you for your patience as we finalize the numbers and pay off the bills that are still coming in), but the response for the plea of the parish to help defray our ever increasing utility costs has been nothing short of amazing! It continues to speak volumes of the generous nature and hearts of our parishioners and reminds me of how lucky I truly am to be assigned here as your pastor. In parish life, we learn pretty quickly that people will more easily give for a particular cause or a particular project. I think back to my first day as pastor on July 1, 2015, arriving at St. Mary's Church only to find that someone stole the air conditioning units on the side of church. Within a week, a group of parishioners came forward and took care of replacing what was stolen. It was a taste of what was in store for me over the past seven years. The Lord reminds us that generosity is more than just giving financial gifts. He speaks to us also of magnanimity - a generous spirit. It's the recognition that everything we have, every good gift, every important aspect of our lives comes, not from ourselves, but from Him. It's having an attitude of humility, graciousness and gratitude. In response to that reality, we give the entirety of our lives back to God. Our very lives become a reflection of His goodness in us and we learn to live our lives accordingly. It's the realization that even in the worst and toughest of times, that every moment is a gift and every second an opportunity to glorify God in a loud voice like the Samaritan who was healed of leprosy in Luke's Gospel. So thank you for your goodness and your gifts and in return, let us give thanks to the One who is the Author of every good gift, our loving Lord and Savior.

Sincerely yours in Christ, Fr. Rob Sinatra