Fr. Don’s Weekly Letter ~ 31 August 2025

Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,

s you know, I have been reflecting on the value and success of a strong community as a refuge from all the moral chaos and lack of truth. I have been interviewing all our inquirers coming into this year’s OCIA program, and there seems to be a consistent thread that runs throughout their seeking: we all need a place where the mess of the world can be viewed from a perspective of faith. That foundation of faith needs to be strong. We aren’t going to make sense out of most of what is happening in the world today. Nor do we need to. We just need a perspective from which we realize life isn’t about the world, anyway. It is beyond, a much broader horizon that we often forget is there, from here in the trenches. We need a community of faith, it is in our DNA.

Also, I have been doing a deep dive into the experiences of Saint Paul in his four journeys in preparation for our upcoming parish pilgrimage.

Against all expectations, the early Christian community grew with remarkable speed in the first centuries after Christ. Several factors help explain this unlikely expansion.

The Roman Empire, like the world today, was vast, multicultural, and often hostile to new movements. Christianity’s rise from a small group of Galilean disciples to a faith spanning cities and continents signals something powerful at work.

Of course, there were shared languages and roads: The Pax Romana provided a relatively stable political environment, with trade routes and Roman roads enabling ideas to spread quickly. Greek and Latin served as common tongues, allowing missionaries like Paul to communicate broadly. Imagine how much faster the message of love would have gotten out if there had been a Roman internet!

In the Church there was also social inclusivity: Christianity welcomed people across class, gender, and ethnic boundaries. Women, slaves, and the poor—those most marginalized in society—found dignity and belonging in the Christian message that “all are one in Christ.”

Most important from the Church was found hope and meaning: Jesus. The promise of eternal life, forgiveness, and God’s love spoke directly to human anxieties about suffering, mortality, and injustice.

Persecution, though brutal, often backfired. Martyrs who faced death with courage stirred curiosity and admiration among non-believers. Stories of their witness inspired others, making Christianity appear not weak, but indestructible. Communities that cared for their sick, buried their dead, and practiced charity stood out in times of plague and crisis, offering practical as well as spiritual refuge.

Missionary zeal, especially that of the Apostles and early bishops, created tight-knit communities that multiplied in households and cities. Local leaders adapted the message without losing unity, giving Christianity both flexibility and coherence.

Against the odds, then, the early Church’s growth owed less to power and more to persuasion, compassion, and conviction.

What can we learn from the early Church today as heirs of the Tradition? First, we focus on Jesus. We take advantage of the gifts we have received that enable us to communicate Jesus in the trade routes and roads that we travel in our daily lives to the people we encounter there. This is where you as lay people have your advantage. The Church takes care of you so you can take care of others. Pope Francis called us the field hospital for all those who are out fighting the good fight every day.

We need to continue the Tradition of being inclusive, not exclusive, to all those who have been left behind by the world, all those who are vulnerable and lack a voice. We have to be ready to give them the kerygma: the need of the world for salvation and the solution offered to all of us in Jesus, God’s Son, who entered into our humanity and by his cross, death and resurrection, makes all things new. Not just some things or some people, but all.

We need to think not so much about power and who has it, but rather focus on unity, compassion and forgiveness.

Start watching your mailboxes for our Parish Renewal Handbook, Ministry Catalog, and Annual Report! Parish Life Weekend is in two weeks!