Kathryn Webb, who grew up in our parish and has served as a Peace Corp Volunteer for the past 18 months, is launching her first Peace Corp Partnership project called “Young Entrepreneurs in Moldova."

This new four-month program will help local students build real-world entrepreneurship skills through weekly workshops, one-on-one guidance, and a new business incubator with new technology open to communal use at the local youth center. By the end of the program, students will present their business models to local entrepreneurs, showcase their ads, and leave with greater confidence to start businesses in their own community—supporting local economic growth and reducing the need to leave home for work opportunities. While the project is partially support by grant funds, some private donations are needed to help the project reach it goals.

To learn more about the project or support it, please use the link below.

Dear Friends in Christ,

Happy Epiphany! In this great celebration, we acknowledge the fact that God entered into our world, not just to bring salvation to a few select people, but to open the doors of Heaven for all people. The Magi who come from afar to present their gifts before Jesus signify this fact that people of all races, nations, and languages are invited to bring themselves to the humble manger of Bethlehem. Instead of bringing gold, frankincense, or myrrh, we bring something far more precious that God desires: our own weakened, imperfect hearts that He loves so dearly. 

This weekend, as we begin this new calendar year, I wish to begin a series of letters that will focus our attention on the history of the Church. Over the next few weeks until the beginning of Lent, we will begin a section of history that will begin with the time immediately following Pentecost and lead up to the life of St. Augustine, a time spanning roughly 400 years. For many of us in our fast paced culture, we may not realize how much can happen in such a large amount of time, and we may be unused to thinking of history in such terms because of our relatively young history in the Americas that began with Christopher Columbus in 1492. However, it is my hope that these letters will help us to see the ways that God worked in the lives of men and women to shape the Church that we know today.

Before we embark on this journey, I wish to take the time in this letter to share a few questions we may have when discussing Church history. 

Why should we study history? – For starters, we should have an interest in studying history in order to understand the will of God in our lives. We know that God is the Lord of all of creation, including history, and we are able to see his providence and presence in the lives and events that we study. We also are able to learn proper behavior by seeing how people succeed or fail depending on the decisions they make that can change the course of history. God is the Lord of history, but he’s not a puppet-master. He gives us free will to either cooperate or turn away from his providence. History helps us to see what we have done in the past in order to make decisions for the future.

What are the benefits of studying history? – When we think about the events in the past, this action helps us to think better, especially to help us gain a framework for a broad appreciation of a variety of cultures and people. History is not a “social science” in the modern understanding, but is an art that allows us to develop the way we look at the world and the events in it. 

What is the importance of studying history? – There is a saying that goes, “Those who ignore history are destined to repeat it.” If we forget to look to the past, we will end up making the same mistakes that we have made time-after-time. But more importantly, the study of history gives us the opportunity to honor the dead. As we know that praying for the dead is a Corporal Work of Mercy, in a way, remembering the dead in history is a way of honoring them and the contributions they have made in our lives. I look forward to diving more into these letters over the next few weeks. Until then!

May Christ’s Peace be with you,

Fr. Briggs