Dear Saints,

Just a warning before I begin: this letter might lapse into shameless self-promotion from time to time.

If you’ve had access to our online activity - heck, if you’ve received one of my robocalls, texts, letters, street-corner exhortations, or the like - you’ll know that I’m trying to make the most of our current circumstances. I’ve taken to seeing these out-of-the-ordinary times as, simply, extraordinary. And why not?

Yes, God is blessing us. He’s inviting us to share in his life and mission in new ways. Now, of course, those new ways of living out our calling might require more from us - more time, more energy, more attention - but that’s what it takes to grow.

If you’ve tuned in to our live-streamed Masses the past week or so, you’ll know that I am going through a phase of growth of my own. I have yet to determine, for instance, whether my pre-Mass commentary is more in line with Bob Barker or Maury Povich. Shocking? For a brief moment I imagined myself as Jerry Springer!

So no, fights are not breaking out at the church when you don’t tune in. But I do think the price is right - the cost of discipleship is everything to the God who gives us everything; and I hope that we won’t need a paternity test to have Maury (or anyone else, for that matter) proclaim, “God, You are our Father.”

Of course, in the midst of all this is the serious business of having the Gospel proclaimed and the Mass celebrated reverently and well. I very much enjoy praying with you, even from afar, and I’m thankful for the opportunity we have to experience that communion anew whether time or space separate us or we can be here in person.

I love you, my friends, and I still love to hear from you. Drop me a note, call me, or stop by sometime!

Father Daniel

δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ