New Year’s Message 2024
Dear Members and Friends of Saint Michael the Archangel Church,
Happy New Year to you! In everything our faith tells us that we must always give thanks and praise to God, the Father Almighty. I am thankful to Him for His many blessings upon us as a parish. I must admit that your love and support have been immense, I never fail to marvel at what a wonderful family we have here at St. Michael and what a wonderful people you are. I am very blessed and humbled to be your priest and rector. I sincerely thank you for your sacrifices and commitment to our parish. I pray God to bless and reward you for your dedication and devotion to our beloved parish. Thank you also for your tolerance, patience, understanding, goodwill, and prayers. This continues to be a great source of strength and support for me. Your strong faith, your smiles and laughter have always lifted my spirit. Your support and cooperation have always been a source of strength to help build our parish into a family of love and unity. I wish you and your family a blessed, happy, peaceful, and healthy New Year in 2024.
I also want to take this opportunity to share few words with you regarding our journey of the past and our hopes for the future.
Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Glory belongs to him both now and forever. Amen. (2 Peter 3: 18)
These are the last words of Saint Peter’s second letter, and the final recorded words of the great Apostle. As 2023 ends, it’s time to celebrate the amazing work God has done in and through our church family this year. I look back over a wonderful but at times a challenging twelve months with deep gratitude for the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Saint Peter’s benediction is both a call to continue to nurture our understanding and experience of these gifts while also recounting how both have held and guided us through life and this past year.
Grace is a spontaneous gift from God to people, generous, free, and totally unexpected and undeserved. Grace takes the form of divine favor, love, clemency, and a share in the divine life of God. Knowledge is the gift of the Holy Spirit to aid us in apprehending and grasping what God is doing. Throughout 2023, we’ve experienced these lavish gifts (grace and Knowledge) from God daily.
When I think of grace as generous, free, unexpected, and undeserved, I picture our church building, with all its beautiful antique design…Luther Chapel (soon to become Saint Michael Chapel) is a gift of grace to us. I also count Father Nick, our priest-in-residence, as a gift of grace from God. In 2023, God has blessed us with many gifts such as the baptism of Isabella, the confirmation of Eliana, the wedding (benediction) of Immaculee and Marvin, the reception of Astrid and William. A sad news was the death of Sandra Morse, a longtime member of our church. We will remember her and celebrate her passing with a Mass in January 2024.
When I consider knowledge, I remember how the Holy Spirit brought help in understanding what God is doing as our vestry and other committees guided us through the search for a new rental location as well as in the planning, the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Saint Michael. Every time when we needed guidance and wisdom, God provided it.
Saint Peter knew that grace and knowledge are gifts to be savored thankfully while each also energizes us for what’s to come. Once more this year, you’ve financially supported the work of Saint Michael the Archangel with unfailing faithfulness and gracious generosity. I thank you. It’s for this reason that we’re in a position to meet our financial needs as we approach the year’s end. Let’s keep going! Let’s keep giving as we grow together in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Let’s make “pledges” to support our 2024 operating budget. We would love to see these gifts on display in our 2024 giving campaign.
In 2023, we celebrated the jubilee, the 25th year of the establishment of our parish. In the past 25 years (quarter century) 32,522 peoples have attended church services, 21,300 have received the Holy Eucharist (body of Christ) at Mass, many other sacraments (baptism, communion/confirmation, confession, holy matrimony, anointing of the sick) and funeral services have been administered as well. That is a huge achievement for a small church like this one.
Many (almost all) of the pioneers who started the journey of Saint Michael are no longer with us, but the memories of all the sacrifices they made to keep this church vibrant and alive will never leave of hearts.
2024 begins not only a new Year, but a new quarter century for us. The next 25 years will be our story. With that comes a huge challenge and a responsibility to keep and “carry on the flamboyant torch” we inherited from the founding brethren We can do this; we will do it and we must do it for the sake of our own fate and faith. For 25 years, God has watched over Saint Michael parish as she “wandered” the town of Frederick in the search for a suitable permanent home; just like He never failed to deliver our forefathers from the difficulties of desert into peaceful life in the promise land, God has done the same for us. Our time of wandering in the streets of Frederick is ending with this year 2023. This may have been the last Christmas we celebrated in somebody’s church. Next Christmas will be in our “owned” church building. I say this prayerfully, faithfully, and hopefully. Our 25-thousand-mile journey in the “darkness” (not knowing where we would end up) has seen the light (Isaiah 9,2). The word has become flesh and dwelt among us.
As I consider the second leg of our journey (next 25 years) It will be wonderful to be fully settled for the first time. We’ll need your continued support to keep us financially strong, pastorally embedded in our beliefs, morally leading the way and spiritually healthy. There are great needs of every sort in our community. I want us to be ready to serve however, wherever and to whomever God intends.
Growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ keeps us robust. Here’s a few practical suggestions to help you grow with both.
- Join me in praying daily for God’s blessing and guidance for us. I’ve set aside Fridays as a day for fasting and prayer. If your health permits you, consider joining me.
- If you’re able to do so, consider making a year-end gift to help us meet our budget. An envelope can be found in boxed offering envelopes in church’s pews.
- Finally, but significantly, if you haven’t yet thought of giving a pledge for 2024, please do so. Please remember that you can begin giving offerings electronically by going to our church website www.stmichaelacc.org. If you need help, please contact the church office/Treasurer.
The new year provides the opportunities for us to turn a new page in our history. We remember and give thanks for the blessings of the past year, despite the challenges, adversities, and uncertainties that we may continue to endure.
Saint Peter’s last words “all glory and honor belong to him now and forever” are at the center of my prayer for our congregation. May Jesus Christ alone be honored and praised through us and because of us.
Amen.
Father Pothin
Rector
