Dear Parishioners,

One of the challenges of being a follower of Christ is to properly represent Christ in our daily life. St. Paul reminds us that we are "ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us." An ambassador represents someone else throughout the course of his or her dealing with others. The more transparent the ambassador, the better the representation. Through us, God makes His message known by how well we speak and how well we live that message. Our willingness to take on the identity of Christ will be directly related to how well we bring Christ's message to others. St. Paul says that "Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come." Our willingness to put aside our own agenda and take on Christ's agenda will create something new and exciting that will inspire others to do the same.

The message that Christ wants us to represent to the world is that "God is love." God's love is total and all forgiving and merciful. Like the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son, God's love rejoices in our willingness to reconcile and turn our lives around toward Him.

In these last remaining weeks of Lent, you are encouraged to take stock of where you are currently in your life with regard to being an ambassador for Christ. There is still time to reconcile, to make amends, to turn life around and head more toward a loving Father who is ready and willing to embrace you without judgment. God will not fire us for being a bad ambassador. If we are open, God will give us the grace to be a better ambassador. As always, the choice to respond is personal. The individual invitation from God clearly asks that each of us respond to be a more authentic believer. I invite you to pray for the courage and the wisdom to respond appropriately as would a true ambassador for Christ.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
Father Tarantino
Pastor