Pastor's Letter
Dear
Friends,
Greetings! And may the peace of the God of Love be with you
in abundance! As the
pastor of St. Joseph Parish, I am pleased to welcome you as a visitor to our
Parish website. And while no site can capture the full impact of any person or
group, we hope that it will provide you with a basic understanding of who we
are, and that you will come back to us for another visit in the near future.
While we are located in the Village of Babylon, St. Joseph
Parish serves people from Babylon, W. Islip, N. Babylon, and W. Babylon. This
fact is important to our identity, and the mix of perspectives and personalities
that make us who we are.
As a church community rooted in our faith in Jesus Christ
that comes to us from the Apostles, we strive to carry on and share that
tradition with those who come to us. As a human organization that is guided by
God’s Holy Spirit in that tradition, we also find ourselves actively and
energetically engaged in several significant tasks:
q Prayer: our worship centers on the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ;
q Learning: studying the Teachings of the Apostles for our own time;
q Community-Building: spending enjoyable time with other believers;
q Administration: coordinating and overseeing the Parish’s many facilities;
q
Service:
calling forth all the community’s time and talent gifts and resources.
In practice, this means that we have numerous opportunities
for prayer and Mass (the Eucharist), as well as for groups to which people
belong for personal and communal growth. We also are proud of the spiritual
opportunities and services we offer to specific groups, such as those in our
Nursery School, our teens, our seniors, our
engaged couples, those who are bereaved, those who want a ‘faith refresher’
course, and those who want to study God’s Word, and dozens more. We even
have a Mardi Gras celebration each year on the night before Ash Wednesday!
If you are in the neighborhood of Long Island’s South
Shore in western Suffolk County, New York, please stop by and visit us in
person. Our Parish Center staff will greet you with the hospitality of Jesus
himself. And if you are ‘surfing the ‘Web’ and have discovered us, we thank
you for spending time with us today. May God bless you and all your loved ones.
Sincerely,
Father Chris
Father Chris Heller, Pastor
The
Table of the Word
The Table of the Eucharist
Two Tables of Hope, One Saving Lord
