Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for welcoming me to St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church.  It is indeed an honor to be with you and to serve our Lord.  My first week here has been very exciting as well as overwhelming. 

I am trying to get accustomed to a much larger parish and all the responsibilities that come with it than the one I had at St. Augustine in Basile.  I ask for your prayers and patience while I get acclimated to my new surroundings and responsibilities.  I was also named Chancellor of St. Leo-Seton School in addition to my responsibilities here at our Church.  I will be very busy between the two entities so please bear with me if I am not as available or accommodating as you would like for me to be.  It will take some time for me to get my hands around everything that goes on here and the many things that must be taken care of. 

I wanted to let you know in case you haven’t noticed that I get very enthusiastic when I preach.  People in Basile would occasionally ask me if I was mad at them because of my zeal for preaching.  Please know that I am not mad at you and that I am  just very passionate and excited when I preach.  Preaching is one of the things that really moves and inspires me.  If anything, when I preach I usually plan my homilies around something I need to hear or work on in my life.  We all need to be reminded of God’s commandments and to refresh our memories on what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ in the world.

As with any new pastor coming in there will undoubtedly be some changes that take place.  Every pastor has their own way of doing things, usually influenced by the seminary they attended and the training they received.  Be assured that any changes I make are not to offend or show disrespect to anyone.  Change is always a source of stress in our lives but when we get used to it so often it really doesn’t seem to be as big of a deal that we made it.

So as we move forward in a new chapter for St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church let us work together to build up the Kingdom of God here on Earth.  This is a loving and welcoming parish that is filled with the Light of Christ.  Let us keep His flame alive in our lives and in our community. 

Let us also keep Fr. Gary in our thoughts and prayers as he begins his treatments that God may grant him His grace of healing and curing. 

Again, thank you for welcoming me so warmly.  Let us pray for one another that God’s will be done and that we have the grace to accept it.

Together in Christ Jesus,

Fr. David