Fr. Michael’s Message

Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.

As we begin a new school year, we pray for our children and all teachers and administrators, that this be a year of Grace and many blessings. We also pray for our Catechists and Core Team members for our Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (3-5 years olds), Young Disciples (1st-5th grade), Edge Group (6-8th grade) and High School Ministries. We had an amazing summer! It began with an amazing Vacation Bible School (hosted at St. Peter and Paul), a Middle School trip to LifeTeen Camp, as well as several high schoolers attending the Steubenville Atlanta Conference. We had powerful retreats for our Men and Women (90+ men attended the Men’s Retreat and 115+ Women!) that were tremendous spiritual “shots in the arm” for those who attended. I myself was blessed to be in Detroit for four weeks finishing my class work for an STL in the New Evangelization, a program for priests staffed by some of the best theological and evangelistic minds in the country. So after a powerful summer, we hope to hit the ground running here at Saint Dominic to live our vision of being a “Parish family fully alive in Christ, setting the world ablaze!” 

We have also topped $2.5 million pledged for our capital campaign, Renew and Rejoice, which will build our campus and our Monsignor Crowe Community Center. In the next few weeks we will be able to share a bunch of exciting updates about the project, so stay tuned!

We have also been moved with concern over international events such as the US withdrawal in Afghanistan and the escalating humanitarian crises in Haiti. We respond by joining with those suffering people in prayer and by our generosity. We will take up a second collection this weekend for Mission to the Beloved, a charity that directly impacts the people of Anse-à-Veau, at the Cathedral Parish of St. Anne. Fr. Louis Merosne and the people of his parish came to our need after Hurricane Michael, and now it is our opportunity to respond to their needs. Please give generously during the collection this weekend, and consider setting up a monthly donation to them at missiontothebeloved.com. May God bless us as we begin this new school year, to be missionary disciples in the building of the Kingdom of God in Panama City and beyond!

Fr. Michael