PREAMBLE (to Parish Council Constitution and By-Laws, 2012)

 When Jesus heard this he said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I came to call not the upright, but sinners.’ Mark 2:17

 As Catholics, we are faced with secularism, the wisdom of the current age, that threatens to become a state sponsored religion denying the power of God. We are faced with Christian forms that would undermine the Truth of Jesus Christ, and we know Catholics who would prefer that the Church conform to the world rather than conform to Christ. And we have experienced scandal within our own Church.

 But we are not discouraged because we stand on God’s promises. We find hope in turning to Christ, Who is as always the source and the destination of the Catholic Church.

 With Jesus Christ at the head of His Church, through the Offices of the Apostolic Succession – our Pope, our Bishops, our Priests, and our Deacons – guided by Scripture, Tradition and Church Teaching, following the will of our Bishop, with the aid of the Sacraments, particularly of Communion and Confession, we are called to be caught up in the fullness and joy of salvation through faith.

 Through repentance and salvation, Jesus Christ asks us to “become fishers of men,” to go forth to evangelize our neighbors and our community.