Dear Parishioners,
I mentioned in a daily Mass homily the other week that I recently read a book on World War I. The Great War began in 1914. The United States didn’t enter the war until 1917, and, really, it wasn’t until 1918–the last year of the war–that the United States had troops in combat. When the United States entered, the Allies (Great Britain and France) were on the brink of defeat. The western front line was only miles from Paris and the Germans were poised to finally overrun the trenches. The British and French saw the Americans as a crucial relief, and planned to have the Americans fill the gaps in the French and British lines.
The Americans had other plans. Under General John Pershing’s leadership, the American Expeditionary Force would act as an independent army. Yes, the Americans would coordinate with the Allies, but the Americans wouldn’t simply fill the French and British ranks. American troops wouldn’t take orders from French and British generals; wouldn’t salute French and British flags; wouldn’t fight the way the French and British fought (which had been disastrous). The Americans would fight in their own, uniquely American way. Pershing showed tremendous resolve in this matter–with essentially no support from the President–and did not back down to British and French pressure. Without Pershing the outcome of the war might have looked very different, as well as the status of the United States Army. Who knows how this would’ve affected WWII and the role of the United States in the world today. Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the overall commander of the Allies who was from France, said, “Nobody among us will ever forget what America did.”
I think of this as I hear Jesus speaking in today’s Gospel about the ‘Son of Man sending out his angels and gathering his elect from the four winds.’ We are part of Jesus’ army. He doesn’t just send us out to die like pawns on a chessboard, the way the French and British generals threw their troops into the meat grinder. We are unique to the Lord. We are his elect, and he needs us to “fight” according to our own style to help save the world. (Please note, I’m speaking in metaphor here; the war image is just an image.)
Lean into your uniqueness as an individual and as a Catholic. Give yourself over to God and our Church will be strengthened.
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I want to take this opportunity to say thank you and farewell to Nick Testa, our Operations Director. Nick will be leaving us at the end of the month, as he and his wife plan to take up residence in Alabama to be closer to family. Nick has been a huge blessing to the parish in the three years he has been with us, overseeing the management of the campus and our evangelization efforts. Nick is a true disciple and humble servant. He will be missed. God bless you, Nick, and thank you again for your hard work for St. Paul of the Cross.
With Nick’s departure we are looking to hire a new Operations Director. We have posted the job description on our website and through the Archdiocese. This is a very significant role for our parish, so please keep us in prayer as we look for the position. If you yourself are interested or you know of someone who might be interested, please reach out to me. Please also feel free to spread the word about the opening.
Next week we will be publishing our Annual Report in the bulletin, so please tune in to see the state of our parish. Also looking ahead to next week, we will have a special Thanksgiving Day Mass on Thursday, November 28th at 10 a.m. (there will be no 6:25 a.m. or 8:30 a.m. that day).
Finally, please save the date for our Christmas Parishioner Appreciation Party: Wednesday, December 11th in the gym. As we did last year, this is our chance to thank all of you who contribute so much to making St. Paul of the Cross a vibrant parish.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. James Wallace
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