"Happy" New Year

Dear sisters & brothers in Christ,

I pray that you are blessed. I took a week off to go see my family and friends, especially my mother. She was asked by some of her friends why she had not returned to weekday mass. She told them, “Why go out in the weather and not only risk falling, but also Covid? (Her pastor refuses to enforce the mask mandate that the St. Louis Archbishop has imposed). Besides, I can watch my sons’ mass from the comfort of my home...where I get to see him more now than when he lived in St. Louis.” OUCH! Therefore, I am trying to take the opportunities I have to go see her. I was also able to gather with my sisters, my nephews, and all their significant others. Unfortunately, my niece had a pipe burst, so I didn’t get to see her or my great-niece and nephew.

My great-niece was upset that Santa forgot two things on her list, especially a heart shaped pillow. Fortunately, I told her that he did realize it and made a pit stop here to load up on more cookies and that he left it in my care. I passed it off to my sister to give to her and needless to say, she was overjoyed. Santa is off her naughty list.

Most of you know that I received an infected tooth for Christmas. I am scheduled to have it pulled this week. If that happens, the surgeon told me to prepare to be out of service for several days. So, I am sorry about that. If you have something that is urgent, please talk with Fr. Chung or Samantha. I am sure they will be able to help you or direct you to someone who can.

I look forward to having all of this done and getting back to parish ministry. Be sure to keep an eye on the bulletin and website for upcoming events, especially Lent and the fish fry. While we are planning on having one this year, we are not sure in what form. We are leaning toward having a drive-thru only version this year. We realize many want the social aspect; however, we are struggling to gather enough volunteers. Not to mention the Covid variants. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Cindy Hodges at chodges.homes@gmail.com or the office.

Let us all work together to make this a truly “Happy” New Year! If we work together and pray for The Holy Spirit to “fan the embers into flames,” then we can rebuild the thriving St. Alphonsus that we all know and love. Let us each ask our Lord...

“What we need to DO, in Twenty-Twenty-TWO?”

In the Redeemer, Fr. Rick