Dear Saint Mark Parish Family and Friends,

Happy New Year! First of all on behalf of Fr. Russ, Deacons Emmet, Paul, Andy and the rectory staff and my own behalf, heartfelt thanks for your Christmas and New Year Greetings, prayers, lovely cards, and many thoughtful and kind gifts.

We start yet another year 2019! I want to personally thank you for being part of St. Mark Parish Community and for your support of this parish through your time, talent and treasure. For some of you the year 2018 might have been a difficult year due to ill health or loss of a loved one. So we begin a New Year with hope and optimism that the year 2019 will be a year with many blessings.

Following are a few suggestions to make 2019 a better year for us personally and for our families and community: Make it a priority that this year is a year to come closer to the Lord. Make every effort to grow in your spiritual life by spending more time in prayer, regularly attending Mass, by visiting Jesus in the Adoration chapel, reading some spiritual books and praying the Rosary. In the last year there were some people who never even imagined that they wouldn’t see 2019, but they are no more with us. Therefore we take nothing for granted and are thankful to God for our lives, for one another, for our families and friends. In this New Year love and appreciate your family and friends. Try to be a better husband, a better wife, a better mother, a better father, a better son and a daughter. We all struggle with patience. So this year try to be more patient, kind, understanding, loving, non-judgmental and accepting and thus make our church warm and welcoming. Let not little things bother you and delay reaction to a negative comment or situation.

We do not know what this year holds for us but God never promised a trouble free life and we cannot expect this year also to be a year of smooth sailing. But we are people of hope that with Jesus, Mary and Joseph on our side, we will be able to find strength and peace even in the midst of our troubles and make it a better year.

Happy New Year and May God bless each and every one of you and your loved ones and keep you healthy and happy in this year.

Fr. Birendra