Fr. Don’s Weekly Letter ~ 23 August 2026

Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,

Once I asked A.I. the origin of the word “pastor.” The word “pastor” originates from the Latin word “pastor,” meaning “shepherd.” This term, in turn, comes from the Latin verb “pascere”, which means “to lead to pasture, set to grazing, cause to eat.” In religious contexts, particularly within Christianity, “pastor” is used to describe a clergyman or minister who is a shepherd to a flock or congregation.

It has been my experience, however, that the job often seems more like that of a sheepdog than a shepherd, running around biting at peoples’ heels to try to move this ship of church in the right direction. You hear people use the phrase “herding cats” a lot, but I think it better to popularize “herding sheep.”

It is an interesting reflection: to lead them to pasture, to set them to grazing, and to “cause [them] to eat?” What is the old phrase – you can lead a horse to water...but you can’t make it drink! But that is, apparently, exactly my vocation.

I have often pondered the best course of action for Saint Bernadette. Then, how do I place it in front of you, and convince you that you can’t live without it? That there is nothing more important to your life than what Jesus is offering now at this moment of your life? I would hope that in an unobscured moment of clarity each and every person in our parish would realize that this is True. But how do we renew our hearts to make Saint Bernadette our priority as a community that brings us holiness and life?

Sadly, this is not something that happens automatically. It is only inspired by an encounter of the love of God, often in prayer but often also in our interactions with others. There is an unconditionality of love that lays bare all our brokenness from bad experiences of love which did more harm than good. It is only actualized by the same interaction when we exper-ience the beauty of others serving us and our service to others. This is the love that saves. This is the love whose absence on the last day will bring about the words of our Savior, reminding us that every time we did not do something out of love for the least of our brothers and sisters, we did not do it for him. It is starkly simple.

Once again, we are preparing for Parish Life Weekend September 12-13. You will be asked to make commitments of time, talent and treasure for our parish comm-unity. Shepherds and sheepdogs aren’t enough to make things happen: Saint Bernadette is going to be just as great as you make it. But, people are afraid to commit to things today. There is the pasture... so many possibilities placed before us. Please, eat. The alternative is to starve.

Especially now that we have received the final approval of Bishop to move forward with our new building dream-to-reality (see page 8), we have an even greater future just about to open up. Think of the possibilities with a new building. So what does a pastor do when he needs help? He calls forth the gifts that God has already placed in our community.

We have a great parish advisory board in place ready to go. Where I need help is to build a communications team -- could be a committee, or just a team -- where we can communicate the incredible volume of our good news in a way that is concise, complete and not too frequent. The pasture is laid out before us. We now must lead each other to the water.

This is particularly an area where you youth and young adult members of our family can shine. I love to tell our kids that I graduated from college before personal computers were invented. They invented the internet the year I was ordained. So you can see how steep my learning curve is! Help! I make this bulletin every week, that is about the depth of my tech talents. Good news can travel just as quickly as bad can will provide people with the hope they need so much. The best news is usually received in person: by word of mouth. Share our story and get people excited! Come to the water!

The Lord be with you,