Letter from Father Dexter

My dear friend, 

In our journey to follow in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus, our Teacher, we are reminded repeatedly that the path is not easy. The gospel encourages us to strive to enter through the narrow gate and reminds us that the last will be first and the first last. These are hard instructions to hear in a world that increasingly measures success by accumulated possessions and personal power. Why would the Lord point us toward the narrow gate, the more difficult way? Perhaps it is because there is little cost in taking the easy route. We risk nothing, and we miss the opportunity to see the face of Christ in those we encounter along the way. 

As a parish we continue, at the Eucharist, to listen to these instructions and to seek tangible ways to live out the gospel. Our Corporal Works of Mercy initiative is just one of many ways we as a community have sought to put into practice the Lord's command that we love our neighbor. We focus on two particular works - sheltering the homeless and visiting the sick - in a direct and meaningful way through our support for Habitat for Humanity and Mur-Ci Homes.
 
Christ the King's involvement with Habitat reaches far beyond mere shelter. While we provide financial support for constructing a house, we help make it a genuine home by coming to know the family that has sacrificed tremendously to escape a dangerous land and religious persecution. We match the sweat equity that they invest through building homes for others by picking up hammers and saws ourselves. And, as we share in their delight of home ownership, we realize that sometimes we take for granted the blessings we ourselves have received.
 
Similarly, our parish support for Mur-Ci Homes runs deep. Funds raised through this campaign help provide a joyful Christmas party, hosted here at Christ the King by the Knights of Columbus, for the 72 people with profound disabilities living at this Antioch group home. Equally important, this party gives us a chance to express our gratitude to their caregivers, who struggle with the hard job of nursing those dependent on others for virtually every necessity. And through your kindhearted response to the Corporal Works of Mercy Campaign the Knights have added a second annual party – a summer festival on the grounds at Mur-Ci Homes - to extend the ways that we "visit the sick." 

Your generous and sustaining support of our Corporal Works of Mercy efforts over the past several years has been heart touching for me and those strengthened by the fruits of this work. This coming weekend, August 24-25, we again will have an opportunity to share our many blessings with those who are indeed the least among us. You will find envelopes in the pews and at the entrances to the church that you may take home as you consider a meaningful gift. You may drop those into the collection at any time, mail your contribution to the parish office, or visit www.ctk.org for online giving. The Knights also will be at all exits after each mass this weekend to collect immediate contributions. Unless designated otherwise, all gifts received will be divided between Habitat and Mur-Ci Homes based on the respective cost of their endeavors. 

In Christ,