The staff and I are continually impressed by the character, gifts, skills, and abilities of Saint Michael’s lay leaders. They bring their very best passion and intellect to the work of the church, ensuring that finances are sound, operations are smooth, and ministries are effective. We are very grateful for those who have been called to leadership in this community.

I recently returned from our latest mission to Tela, Honduras, where once again I was amazed at how Saint Michael has actually constructed a large part of the infrastructure for the barrio public schools we visit, including classrooms, play yards, a water pump and outdoor restroom facilities. These structures are used every day by hundreds of children who are in kindergarten through 6th grade.

One of the challenges we often experience in the life of faith has to do with our need for a clear vision of what growing in faith looks like. We can be inclined to think of faith as a feeling or an idea rather than as a behavior: this can frustrate our attempts to become mature Christians because it makes it hard to recognize how we may be called to grow in specific, concrete ways. The call to grow as a mature disciple of Jesus invites us to reflect on where it is Jesus calls us to go and how we’re going to get there.