Hello parish family, my name is Melanie Ballard.  I have been a member at Sts. Joe & Paul for about 4 years.  I am the website manager.  I love being part of the Sts. Joe & Paul family, because of the love I feel for our parish, I am writing this blog.

Our parish has gone through a big change in the last few months and it has affected some of our families more than others.  Fr.  Kalombo gave us a moving, heartfelt message over the weekend at the end of mass. He addressed a few things, one of them being the communication barrier.  So, I talked with Fr. Kalombo after mass and we have a solution.  I will begin posting the homily in writing along with the podcast on the website to be read along while listening.  His messages are inspiring and shouldn’t be lost in translation.

That being said, below you can read his message he gave after the mass, it’s truly worth the read.

God bless.  ~Melanie

As your brother, your friend and your Pastor, after been here for 4 months, today I want to address some messages of encouragement to the community. It took me time to listen to you, time to see and time to observe. And now, it is time to tell you what I have seen and heard.

First of all I want to thank for supporting priests in your prayers. Thank you for all you have given us. Many thanks for your love. Thank you for inviting us in your home for dinner. We enjoy that. Thank you for all you give to the Church. When I see the Sunday collection, I thank God for your generosity. Thank you for all you do. Thank you so much.

2. Secondly, I want to express some challenges and concerns. Our Sunday collection is going down. We don’t reach the weekly budget. And at the same time, we have to keep making disciples of Jesus, teaching the good news of God, supporting Catholic School, visiting the sick, celebrating sacraments, paying bills, and salaries. In this point I ask you to be more generous in order to sport our pastoral work. I need every one of you. I need your support. I need resources.

3. Thirdly, I have observed that some people stopped coming to Saints Joseph and Paul. This is the time to fight for the Church family we love. This is the time to come together to show that we are disciples of Jesus. So, you are my messengers to those who are not coming. Tell them that we love them. We miss them. And I love them. I am ready to whatever in my power to reengage parishioners. I cannot do it by myself. I need all of you. I want to see the flame of the spirit move again in this parish. I know that it is possible. My dream is to see 50 people in the choir. 100 people in daily Mass and Adoration. I want to see 200 servers. I want to see 50 people in prayer groups, I want to see all the young people meeting on Sunday. I want to see a vibrant community where their place for everyone.

4. Some you told me that they have hard time to understand my accent. I agree. I have limitations. Thank you for telling me that because I have to change. I have to grow. I am working on it very hard. I promise you that someday I will be able to speak without accent. In this point I want to ask you three things: The first one patience. The second one patience. And the third one patience.

Lastly: I am here to continue the mission of Jesus. The mission of Jesus is to make disciples in the world. Remember what Jesus says to the apostles: Go to the world, make disciples. And He will be with us always until the end of the world. The Bishop changed the driver, but the mission continues.

So, I am here to continue the mission of Jesus. I am here to love you. I am here to pray for you. I am here to help you to be true disciples of Jesus Christ. My passion for God and for people bring me here. I am here to foster the unity of the Parish. I am here to bring people together, English Speaking and Hispanics. We are one parish, the body of Christ. So, for some reason the Bishop appointed me here. So, let us continue to support and pray for one another.

May, Mary Mother of God, Saints Joseph and Paul, pray for us.

Fr. Kalombo