Change

Dear sisters & brothers in Christ,

I hope you're feeling blessed. As for me, I am slowly getting settled in. Things are a bit up in the air, and will be until I can settle into my permanent rooms and get completely unpacked. But in the mean time there is always both the good and bad that comes with a major move and trying to get settled into a new city, a new home, and a new job. Certain parts of it I dread, like missing family and friends, having to break out of old routines and finding new doctors. Other parts I find exciting, like discovering what my new hometown has to offer, meeting new people and making new friends, as well as, the possibilities that come with discovering new things.

It is a balancing act, between taking the time to settle in and finding my way around my new home, and jumping into the new job and hitting the ground running (as there are always some things that cannot wait). An old friend once advised me, “Respect what has gone before you and don’t make any changes for the first six months,” but of course, there are some things (at least in my opinion) that need change, so that I can best do my job. I actually was surprised at the number of parishioners who made some positive reference to change during my first two weekends. I realize that for most people change can be difficult, but I do feel that it is a good thing to occasionally break free from old patterns and habits and that all too common response, “Because this is the way we have always done it!”

One of those changes has been to move my office out of the rectory and into the parish center. I felt a need to be in closer communications with our staff, as well as, getting a better sense of what is happening day in and day out. I also felt that this would make me more accessible to you. Unfortunately, the only room that made sense and offered the necessary privacy, was the new meeting room down the hall from the liturgy office. We moved the large table into the DRE office. If your group was using that room please see Sandy for your new meeting location. — Now all I need is a tunnel to connect it to the rectory to use when that white stuff starts falling out of the sky.

In the Redeemer, Fr. Rick