Happy New Year! The beginning of a new calendar year brings us special joy and hope. It is a reminder that time is a gift from God, given to us from His eternity, for us to use to prepare for eternity. The passing of each year and each day is meant to be an exchange with God: He gives us time, and we give our days and years back to Him in service and love, bringing as much good as possible into the world and into the lives of others. The New Year is an opportunity to resolve, above all, to serve God faithfully: to believe more firmly, to hope more ardently, and to love more generously. That is what makes a New Year “happy,” and that is what leads us to the happiness that never ends. It is true that there are many good deeds we did in the past year which we are very proud of, but there are things we failed to do or did wrong, so the New Year is also a time for us to commit ourselves to do the good that we have started, and challenge ourselves to do better. In retrospect, I am for the most part very well pleased with the support from the staff, boards, councils, groups, organizations, countless volunteers, and most importantly the entire parish community. Without your support, my ministry here would not possible. A few things that I would like to encourage you to do better for this New Year are to go to church regularly with your family, take your family with you to spend some time in the Eucharist Adoration, supervise your children when they are in church, and last but not least, increase your weekly offering. If we all do these together, I am certain a happier year is coming our way.

Fr. Vincent H. Pham
Pastor