Dear Parish Family,

This weekend we begin the last week of Ordinary Time with the celebration of Christ the King of the Universe. To name Christ as King means that He is Lord of all and, consequently, we are not. Today's feast helps us to enthrone Christ as Lord precisely by dethroning our own ego with its selfish desires that harm us, our human family, and our relationship with God.

Today's celebration of Christ the King speaks to our secular culture as well. As the Word of God active in every part of creation, Christ is the truth, the design, and reason behind all that is; He is the goodness, the wisdom, and light illuminating creation; He is the beauty, the theme, the melody, the dance and pattern woven into the very structure of reality. Creation glorifies God by being what God made it to be. While evil twists and distorts the truth, goodness, and beauty of creation, God has a way of redeeming all things and taking what evil has destroyed and making something wonderful with it.

Addressing the teens at World Youth Day 2000, St. John Paul II speaks to the depth of this understanding of Jesus as King of the Universe and the implications He has for our lives: "It is Jesus you seek when you dream of happiness. He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you. He is the beauty to which you are so attracted. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal." Whether we are aware of it or not, the meaning and purpose of our lives is ordered around the Person of Jesus Christ.

#WeGiveCatholic Early Giving 
Join us on Giving Tuesday, November 28 as we invest in our teachers at St. Mary School! Every donation supports initiatives requested by our teachers, including providing them with new laptops and upgrading the desks and chairs in our upper elementary classrooms. Help us reach our $25,000 campaign goal and let our teachers know we love them and support their ministry to our young disciples. Early donating is open, so head over to https://www.wegivecatholic.org/organization/St-Mary-Chardon to make a donation, or drop off cash or check marked "WeGiveCatholic" to the St. Mary parish office or in the drop box.

Scam Texts and Emails
Periodically, bad actors will find a parishioner's phone number or email from the bulletin or website and text or email you with a message from someone pretending to be me. Usually these messages ask you to handle a discreet affair for me, or tell you I'm in a meeting and can't talk in person, or ask for immediate emergency assistance. The variations are numerous. Please be vigilant when receiving a message from a number or email you do not know. ALWAYS double check the email domain (@stmarychardon.org or @stpatrickthompson.org), ask the parish office or a fellow parishioner if you're unsure about a message you received. The best course of action is to ignore and delete the message. Please notify our parish office if you receive a scam message. Neither I nor anyone on our parish staff will ever solicit you for money by text, phone, social media, or email.

I am yours in Christ,
Fr. Scott Goodfellow