I want to thank you all for your wonderful support! I know I am not as communicative as Fr. Jack Davis, who has very efficient channels of communication; but I do try to be faithful to the Spirit of Nativity! That spirit has driven me for the last 30 years. We have been operating a meal service for the elderly 3 days a week and I continue to help 3 orphans who lost their mother to T.B. and their father is an addict who lately, thank God, has been detoxing. Their grandmother takes care of them and your support helps feed them!
My parish, Sta. Teresa, has become a mega parish with 15 regular weekend liturgies plus weddings and quincineras Saturdays. We have a children’s mass Saturday at 7 p.m. and then Sunday we start at 7 a.m., followed by 8,9,10,11:15,12:30,1:45,4,5,6,7,8:15,9:30p.m. 10:30 p.m. The 1:45 mass is a baptismal mass where we baptize between 20 and 30 people. The 10:30 PM mass we started because of the influenza, so as to have a mass where there are less people. We had thought of removing it later, but there seems to be a need for liturgy at that hour, since many work in factories and stores. It is the time they can come. I know this sounds like madness and it is! I finally got an associate in February…. thank the good Lord that he is as crazy as I am… Mass attendance is between 6000 and 7000 on a weekend. We expect to be pushing 9000 by this time next year.
IN our CCD programs we have 2,200 students this year. The reform will call for all children to bring a bible to class and most of our teachings will be based on scripture and from there illuminate our sacramental life. It is also a way our children will be able to respond to the many “evangelical” groups that at times preach more hatred that love. Obviously we do not have one night a week for CCD, but rather 10 different sessions of classes, 6 on Saturday and 4 during the week. We also have a group of 100 missionaries; men, women and children that go door to door and actively mission inside our parish boundaries. The time of sitting and waiting for the people to just show up has come and gone.
In our social ministries we try to get the poor to help the poor, solidarity is one of our greatest treasures. They take food collections once a month for the food pantry and others work in our meal program. I sometime think that the elderly who come to eat the three times a week are just as hungry for companionship as for food. Both needs are met, plus they get to eat in an air-conditioned space, which is a rest for the body given our 100 plus daily temperatures for 6 months of the year…
As pastor I really cannot be present in everything. I try to provide an environment like that at Nativity where the Spirit can work. Then I try to stay out of the way at least so as not to hinder if I cannot help. As I learned at Nativity the Church is centered on Eucharist and on lay participation. That combination has made Santa Teresa a very lively place….
All for the moment, Greetings to All… Fr. Scott McDermott
