ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEDICATION OF SAINT PIUS X CHURCH
14 FEBRUARY 2021
This
conversation between Jesus and his disciples occurs at an interesting
place. Caesarea Philippi was a
Hellenistic city located at the headwaters of the Jordan River. It was
populated by Gentiles, and there was a shrine dedicated to the pagan god,
Pan. Years earlier, Augustus Caesar had
given the city to Herod the Great, who gave it to his son Phillip the tetrarch,
who renovated it and named it after himself.
Far removed
from the Jewish crowds and those trying to trap him, Jesus asks his disciples
what people are saying about him. They
tell him the various opinions. There is
a common theme: Jesus is in the line of
the prophets. He calls people to
repentance. He works mighty deeds. He speaks of God’s will for his people. Over the centuries, prophets had consistently
given hope that God would keep the Covenant he had made to David. That Covenant is the last of the Old
Testament Covenants in the center aisle of our church. God promised David that he would establish his
kingdom for all time. One of his heirs
would be an “adopted son.”
Then Jesus
asks his disciples who they think he is.
Simon Peter calls him the Christ, the Anointed One, who has fulfilled the
promise centuries after the Monarchy of David had collapsed. Then he identifies him as the Son of the
living God. Jesus acknowledges that
Peter did not make a good guess. His
Father has inspired him to make his profession of faith. Despite the many faults of Simon Peter, Jesus
calls him the “Rock” upon which he will build his Church.
Jesus is
not talking about a physical building when he intends to build his Church on
the rock of Peter’s faith. He is
speaking of a gathering of people, the Mystery that Saint Paul mentions in his
Letter to the Ephesians. His Church is
composed of people, living stones, built upon the foundation of the Apostles
and prophets, with Jesus Christ himself as the capstone.
We are
those living stones. The Lord incorporated
us into a living temple through the waters of Baptism. He continues to form us through the
Sacramental life of the Church. Today,
we stand in our physical temple like Solomon, who gives thanks to God for the temple
he had built after the death of David.
As we celebrate this anniversary of the dedication of our church, we are
grateful for the ways our parish has embraced the stewardship of prayer,
service, and sacrifice. These stones are
the result of many sacrifices made by living stones. We give thanks to God for the ways this
sacred space has served our parish. We
now realize that the technology built into our Church has allowed us to
broadcast Masses, weddings, funerals, and many other liturgical services and
prayers to those who could not join us in person during this this time.
This past
year has been difficult in many ways.
The pandemic has changed our lives.
There have been deep divisions about how to handle the pandemic and deep
divisions in our culture. However, we can
trust the leadership of Bishop Rhoades, a successor of the Apostles, who
provides a sense of unity as he continues to guide us through these times. We see the image of Saint Peter, as we
continue to ask the intercession of Saint Pius X, one of his successors. Jesus will keep his promise that the gates of
the netherworld shall not prevail against us.
In addition
to praising God for the gift of our church, it is time to renew our stewardship
of sacrificial giving. Please read the
information we have sent to your home.
Please pray about your response and be prepared to make a commitment
next Sunday. For now, please listen to
Mike and Tracey Plenzler, as they share their story of embracing stewardship as
a way of life.
[Mike]
Hello St. Pius Family!
I am Mike Plenzler and this is my wife, Tracey.
This upcoming Labor Day weekend, we will celebrate our 34th
wedding anniversary and we have been SO blessed over the years. We have two beautiful daughters, Ashley and
Alissa. Ashley is married to Coilin
Walsh and together they have 2 wonderful daughters, Maeve (2) and Ellie Grace
(2 months). Alissa continues to
establish herself as an accomplished vocalist and instructor.
We moved to this area in 1997 and quickly became members of
St. Pius and it felt like home from the first day. Tracey signed up for RCIA that Fall and
Ashley and Alissa received the Sacraments of Reconciliation, First Communion
and Confirmation at the appropriate times.
We basically checked the appropriate boxes along the way.
However, nine years ago, we encountered a challenge to our
faith life, at least what we thought was our faith life. This challenge caused us to look very closely
at our priorities. We decided we needed
to learn more about Catholicism. We
turned to prayer, study and of course guidance from our Pastor, Fr. Bill!
We have continued working on our relationship with God since
then and He has continued to bless us in so many ways. As a result, when we were asked to be a part
of the Capital Campaign for this beautiful Church we just had to say YES. YES to being a part of building the
kingdom of God! YES to our family
and the communities we are a part of and YES to our St Pius Family.
[Tracey]
Please understand this is NOT a disguised pitch for the
capital campaign. Rather, over the last 24
years and more specifically the last 8, WE have grown exponentially by giving
of our Time, Talent and Treasure. Many
years ago we joined our first service opportunity as Extraordinary Ministers of
the Eucharist and still enjoy serving today.
Mike is a long-time lector at Sunday mass and currently 6:45 am weekday masses. We’ve both been on CRHP teams and I have
recommitted to being a member of the Continuation Committee with Christ Renews
His Parish/Welcome ministry and enjoy being a member of the core team of Rooted
in Christ’s Love. We also commit time
daily to grow in our relationship with Christ in prayer with the Liturgy of
Hours, scripture, Lectio Divina and silent prayer.
We say YES to Father Bill when he asks about opportunities
like this one, and of course, plan regular giving to the Church when we review
our monthly budget with the intent on increasing our giving annually. We remain committed to giving our first
fruits to further build the kingdom of God.
[Mike]
Saint Peter says, “As each one has received a gift, use it
to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (1 Peter 4:10) So, please,
we invite you to join us in giving of your Time, Talent and Treasure to the
Church in whatever way you can.
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