To the “Flock” from the “Administrator”,

“You shall be my people and I shall be your God,” said the Lord to His chosen people. This relationship between God and the people of Israel started well before Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the 10 Commandments written on stone tablets.

In essence, a relationship comes before Law. You can have all the laws you want for your children. Even the Church can promote laws for God’s people. But without developing a loving relationship, laws can lose their impact and meaning. I was reminded of this yesterday when I with three members of our parish attended a Safety & Security Conference sponsored by the Diocese of Raleigh and the U.S. Attorney’s Office at the Catholic Center. Emphasis was placed first on building relationships amongst us in the parish. As one seasoned FBI agent said,
“Get your relationships up and running. You don’t want to be sharing business cards at the time of a crisis.”

St. Catherine’s is in a time of crisis with a lot on its plate. The sudden staff changes. The ongoing priest shortage. The need for roof repair. The need for a large parish hall. The need for clear separation of the office complex and school. The need for greater transparency. And the list goes on and on.

A crisis is not necessarily all bad. It is a turning point. And I believe for us to move forward, that we first need to build our relationships. We need to remove any “us versus them” mentality so prevalent in our society that has crept onto our campus. A few examples in our case: English-speaking vs Spanish-speaking; school parents vs non-school parents; Communion on the tongue vs Communion on the hand. My questions are: Do we truly see one another as brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we building bridges of understanding in our community?

Part of this fracturing of the community stems from years of Covid isolation. Another part comes from us not having a true parish hall for regularly scheduled fun, faith building activities.

There is no one quick solution to all these challenges. But I can assure you, we will have many more community-building events and activities in the months ahead to remove the veil and to see our brothers and sisters who sit in the same pews that we do week after week. Together, great things can and will happen in Christ.

God bless you,
Fr Martin Fitzgerald
Parish Administrator