Martha Perez has put together a beautiful report of our parish life together in 2021. It is an overview with highlights of how we have fulfilled our mission to love, pray, serve, and proclaim Christ. The format is a digital flip book. You can view it here, or even better, go to our parish website on your desktop computer or tablet to see it on a larger screen.

I am excited for what God will do with us in 2022. We will begin construction of our new Discipleship Center, but we don’t know exactly when, since we are waiting on the San Diego City planning department to complete a review of our permit application.

In February, we will have our first parish book read. We have purchased 50 copies of Awake, Not Woke: A Christian Response to the Cult of Progressive Ideology, by Noelle Mering. I heard Ms. Mering speak at a gathering of seminarians last December and I was impressed enough to read her book. It is excellent. I had been waiting for a systematic analysis of this phenomenon from a Catholic perspective. Parishioners will be able to register for the book read which includes a copy of the book. We will meet in the parish hall four times, with each participant having read in advance a section of the book. I will offer some comments and then parishioners will break into small groups to discuss the book section. Registration will be available through a link provided on the parish Mighty Network next week.

Finally, I ask for your prayers for our upcoming Good Life retreat at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Encinitas. After having done the Good Life for many years here at OLMC and seeing its fruits, I sensed God was calling us to share it with another parish. Since I am good friends with the pastor at St. John, he agreed to host it there. On the Feast of the Epiphany, I preached at all of the Masses at St. John and was received warmly. We have a full retreat. A retreat team from the parish, including the retreat coordinator, small group leaders, and music and prayer ministers, will be conducting the retreat.