A Letter of Welcome From Fr. Dave
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		“In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as expiation for our sins, Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another.”~1 John 4: 10-11 I am once again drawn to this central message of Our Lord Jesus Christ: “Love one another as I have loved you.”~John 15:12 That is what we are about here at St. Joseph Church. The Lord Jesus Christ called us by name at our Baptism. He called us again in First Communion and Confirmation. The call of the Lord Jesus goes out every day, “Come follow me!” This call is always by name; it is always personal. And the call of the Lord Jesus is a call to love generously, selflessly, as He loved us. I have always liked St. Teresa of Avila’s expression: “The important thing is to love much. Do then whatever arouses you to love.” We have so much to be thankful for at St. Joseph Church. My thoughts go to the extraordinary work of St. Vincent de Paul and to our parish’s care for the homeless. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. The formation of our children, and our high school youth, and the opportunities for adults to grow in faith through CAFÉ are foundational to this parish. Most of our faith formation stems from the work of the dedicated catechists. I also think of parishioners who share their gifts when we gather to worship: the servers, ushers, lectors, leads, the choir, the cantors and musicians, the extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, just to name a few. Our parish is served by so many people on the Parish Council, the Finance, Liturgy, Cemetery, Festival, Social Justice, Parish Life, and Buildings and Grounds committees as well as the Education Commission. Not to mention the CCW, the Knights of Columbus, the Morning Prayer Group, Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Mentor Couples, the RCIA team, the Funeral Ministry team, the Coffee Hour team, the money counters, our Ministries to the Homebound, the Nursing Homes, and the Migrants, as well as those who prepare families for Baptisms. And there are so many others. I cannot help but think about the countless ways in which this parish cooperates with St. Mary, the Adrian Dominican Sisters, and the whole of Lenawee County. SAM’s, Right to Life, Habitat for Humanity, Meals-on-Wheels, the Cub Scouts and the Adrian Symphony come immediately to mind. And of course the people of St. Joseph Church are leaders in every facet of our community. We have so much to be thankful for here at St. Joseph; how richly has God blessed us! The mission given to us by the Lord Jesus is never complete in this life. We are always moving forward. This year we will continue our parish planning process. Led by Parish Council, many parishioners have been working to identify needs and goals for our parish to work on in the months and years ahead. With God’s grace we will continue to serve. To Him be the glory, now and forever. Under the Mercy, Rev. David W. Hudgins Fr. Dave’s Blog: The Great Commandment EMAIL Fr. Dave

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