As we journey through our Advent season the invitation this Sunday is to strengthen our faith. Faith is expressed in the words that we say and in the actions that those words lead us to. Back in 2011 as English-speaking Catholics, we began using the Third Edition of the Roman Missal. The changes that the new translation brought took some time to get used to, by now they may have become commonplace and we may be taking them for granted but as with everything we do when it comes to the practice of faith it’s important to continually revisit what we do and why. One of the relatively minor changes took place in the language of the Creed. Prior to the Third Edition, we were accustomed to beginning the creed with “we believe…” That was changed to the now-familiar, “I believe…” As with many changes, this was done to bring our language of worship into greater conformity with the Latin upon which it is based and, by extension, with the wording that is used by Catholic communities worshiping in many other languages around the world. When we say “I believe” there’s no way to avoid the personal commitment which that statement invites us to. We have to truly embrace the words that follow after each “I believe.” Statements of believing are not just about saying things that sound nice and pretty. In reciting the Creed, when we say we believe, we’re saying that these things are so true and that they’re so important to us that we want to express them with everybody, we want to express them to everybody, and that we would be willing to give up everything in witness to these truths. As Christians, our mission is to proclaim the good news to the world, but part of proclaiming the good news is understanding it ourselves.  
Understanding and proclaiming our faith is not fully accomplished until it moves us to the living of our faith. If we believe that the words we say are true then we believe that we are created and missioned by God to be His disciples in the world. As members of the Stoughton Catholic Collaborative part of our mission is becoming more aware of the material goods God has entrusted us with and doing our best to be faithful stewards of these goods so that we can build up God’s kingdom in this corner of the vineyard. By now, or within the next few days, you should have seen a copy of our annual financial report. What this report says to me is that while we do face financial challenges as we contemplate our future, we are also making the necessary well-advised and prudent decisions to ensure that the two parishes of our collaborative remain strong and vibrant worshipping communities. I urge you all to read this report with prudence and faith. I also urge you to take the state of our Collaborative to prayer both thanking God for the blessings He’s cultivating in our midst and asking God’s to guide us individually and as a collaborative to discern and respond to what He is asking each of us to do to build up His kingdom. As we believe so we must live, and if we live as we believe then we can be certain that even though our journey may be long and there may be many challenges along the way all difficulties will be vastly outnumbered by the blessings God will shower upon us along the way. Have faith, God is with us! – Fr. Carlos