The Pastor's Desk

St. Jude Church is what church is all about: the community of believers coming together and being strengthened in faith by hearing the Word of God and receiving the Eucharist, our Lord Jesus Christ. When we come together at every Mass and celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus for our salvation we not only acknowledge what we believe but also express our common discipleship and live the life of Christ.

For 75 years St. Jude Church has journey together, one generation after the other, building up one another, our community, and the Kingdom of God. We are blessed in so many ways thanks be to God. Our blessings come forth because we truly express our gratitude but, more importantly, we are true to living the calling we have received by our words and actions.
Jesus tells us, “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock” (Matthew 7:24-25). Yes, the St. Jude community is truly on solid rock because we respond to the words of our Lord Jesus and act upon them by the way we serve God by serving others.

Last week St. Jude Church celebrated its 75th Anniversary beginning at Mass celebrated by Bishop Robert Coyle and concelebrated with Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone, Bishop Raymond F. Chappetto, Fr. Leone, Fr. Kline, Fr. Peter, Deacon John, and myself. It was truly an occasion for celebration! The Mass was followed by a memorable evening of shared memories and being together with one another. It was wonderful to have Fr. Greg be with us, too. We had a twenty piece swing band that brought back many memories for many of our parishioners as they played and sang one song after the other. The food and dancing, music and shared memories made the evening another memorable event at St. Jude Church.

And as I always say: It just doesn’t happen. It is because of you! As your pastor I have expressed time and again the love I have for you and sharing our life of faith together. St. Jude Church is such a special, sacred place. As we are in the midst of this celebratory year let us continue our journey together with God in joy, love, and the peace of Jesus Christ!

It just doesn’t happen: Last week’s celebration night was part of a team effort, as all things are. I want to acknowledge and thank our Business Manager, Cynthia Lacey, and our Administrative Assistant, Anna Espana, for all they did in making this event so memorable: the dinner planning (caterers, servers, beverages, music, memory video, the journal, the decorations, …). They reached out to get more involved, like our Shrine Knights of Columbus, AnneMarie Leonardi, Maureen Stumpp and Ed, our maintenance man. Thank you to the caterer, Hauppauge Palace, servers from JD Party Services, the Swingtime Band, and parishioners for helping make the day special and one of our best events! Thank you, Cynthia! Thank you, Anna! Thank you to the Bishops and priests and Deacon John! THANK YOU to the St. Jude Parish community!!!

St. Jude, pray for us ~                                                  

Blessings, 

Fr. Ryan