October 2023

Dear Parishioners,

As summer has ended and fall is upon us, we prepare for the start of the new year here at St. Maximilian Kolbe. Religious Education classes, Kolbe Korner Preschool, RCIA, and Women’s Bible Study have begun. We are gearing up for St. Max Habitat for Humanity’s Annual Dinner/Auction on October 14 and are looking forward to many new events, such as the return of our Christmas Concert, that will enliven our parish as we move into 2024. So many things to thank God for here at St. Maximilian Kolbe.

Fall conjures up a renewal in seasons, there’s freshness in the air. The preparations for Advent and Christmas have begun to take seed and hopefully will awaken in all of us memories of goodness and hope. Certainly, the stores are in full swing! But let’s stop for a moment, reflect on our lives, our hopes, and most importantly what God’s will is for all of us. To be with Him one day. This takes preparation on our part, every day, each moment. One might ask each morning, “God what is your will for me today?”

This being a time for Eucharistic Revival (a three-year initiative launched in 2022), the church is a calling to renew our understanding of what the Eucharist truly is, a rediscovery. Let us join together in prayer to help our Church heal, grow, and thrive in this much needed time. The Vision Statement issued when the Revival was introduced is To inspire a movement of Catholics across the United States who are healed, converted, formed, and unified by an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist—and who are then sent out on mission “for the life of the world.”  Let us pray that we at St. Maximilian are also healed, converted, formed, and unified in the coming year. We all, each one, have that “spark” of the Divine. Regular daily prayer, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, recitation of the rosary, Mass and reception of the Sacraments, will relight that spark. It is of the utmost importance to make God our center, to ask Him each day for His guidance. We have His love, let us take the next step and check in with Him each day. By coming closer to God, we also bring Him closer to others.

We pray that the liturgies, Eucharistic Adorations, and events here at St. Maximilian Kolbe offer you a glimpse of the joy God continually offers us.

Sincerely in Christ,
Msgr. Paul M. Albee, Pastor