Welcome to 2023! Does anyone know where 2022
went?? First I need to give a very humble thank you!
Thank you to everyone who sent a Christmas card, a gift,
and most importantly prayers to my family this Christ-
mas Season! I was truly overwhelmed and touched by
your generosity, and I’ll never truly be able to express
how thankful I am for each and everyone of you! I pray
that your Christmas and New Year celebrations where
wonderful and filled with great joy! May the memories of
the Holiday season stay with each of you.

Such a powerful testimony from John the Baptist. Here
we enter Ordinary Time once again, and we are given this
beautiful Gospel reading from John about what happened
with our Lord’s Baptism! John the Baptist says “Now I
have seen and testified that He is the Son of God!” What a
revelation that must have been to John the Baptist, and I
cannot even imagine the reaction of those he told this too.
How did they take it? How many of them believed after
such a testimony? This would have been a very challeng-
ing lesson for the Jews to have heard, and we do not
know how much longer after this revelation John was
arrested. We must understand that faith takes courage to
speak of the real truth, and not everyone is going to ac-
cept it. I, myself, have been challenged over things I have
said, and sooner or later you realize that it comes with the
territory. Ministry is messy, and if you want something
easy, go eat a pie. Our faith will always be challenged and
that is why we need to rely on hope! Hope in God’s
Words! Hope that we trust in Christ alone! What is keep-
ing you, in this very moment, from trusting in His Word?

Our world is continually falling apart these days. Anger
is an everyday emotion that seems to be running wild
over people. This is a very tough time to be a Catholic
that relies on their faith, and we must dig deeper to find
that courage to stand for truth. Unfortunately, peoples’
ideology is wrapped up in their political beliefs, and it is
a scourge on our society. I am so sick and tired of these
“liberal and conservative debates.” Too many Catholics
have fallen prey to this nonsense, and they have lost
touch with their Father and Savior. What’s it going to
take to wake people up? What can we, as believers of
Christ, do to lead people away from these evils? These are
all questions that the Church must ask itself in 2023, and
as members of the Body of Christ what are we going to
do. I pray we listen to His answers, and I pray we rise to
the occasion.

What does 2023 look like to you? Is this your year to
grow closer to Him? I pray that all of us have a powerful
year in growing ever closer to our Christ!