Celebrating the Little Victories

One thing I consistently hear and read about regarding great movements, organizations, and leaders is that as they journey toward their big goal (whatever that may be), which could be years, or, in some cases, decades, away. These organizations and leaders make sure to celebrate the little “wins” or milestones along the way to remind everyone that, while they may not have attained the big goal yet, progress is still being made. This is something we need to do as a Family of Parishes as we progress through the Beacons of Light process.

Some of the little “victories” or “milestones” have to do with how wonderful all of you have been. It has been wonderful to see the joy you all have when you see us in the community. One example is someone walking out of church as a priest is entering to pray, and they smile and say, ”thank you for everything you are doing, Father.” Another example are several emails thanking our priests for teaching through our homilies and in the bulletin. A third example is having kids say hello to me as they are riding their bikes through town as I am praying my Rosary. Overall, people have been happy to welcome four priests who want to be their spiritual fathers.

The staff has been another wonderful point of victory. First of all, each of our staffs in the NW-7 Family of Parishes has been incredible to work with. We are already having a monthly Family of Parishes-wide staff meeting; many other Families of Parishes have not begun doing this regularly yet. So, we are trendsetters. Steph Pohlman, our Coordinator of Sacramental Life, and many other employees, have also been doing great at building up communication between parishes to help get everyone on the same page. The staff has even been collaborating to look at marriage prep coordination. The intent is to standardize the process across the Family to help make it less confusing for couples and help the priests, so we do not have to know three different marriage prep processes.

Thank you to our deacons, who have been a big help to me and my brother priests in our sacramental and pastoral duties. They are deeply appreciated.

Peace in Christ,

Fr. Jarred Kohn