I meant to write this column a few weeks ago, but then it got sidetracked by a few other columns. As of September 1, we’ve been together as pastor and parishioners for a year. I can’t quite figure out how the time has managed to fly by so quickly, but so it has. God chose a strange year to bring us together, in the midst of an ongoing pandemic with all the planning, flexibility, and creativity that this time has required of us. Reflecting on this pandemic time and the ways it has stretched us I’m reminded of one of my favorite quotes from St. Augustine, “Bad times, hard times, this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times: Such as we are, such are the times.” Without hesitation, I can say that for me this year in Stoughton has been a time where any minor challenges I have encountered have been vastly outweighed by the abundance of blessings and graces I have received.  
            As we continue to journey forward, we will face new challenges and we will discover new blessings that God has prepared for us. If there is one thought I would encourage each of us to have as a guiding principle it is that we ought to take nothing for granted. You know that it is my fervent desire and commitment to see the two parishes in our collaborative thriving and growing. However, to make that a reality requires that each of us continually examine our role and commitment to the life of these communities. We need to let go of the idea that these parishes will always be here simply by a miraculous manifestation of God’s grace. If God wills these parishes to thrive and grow, He wills to do it through the presence and actions of those of us He has called to be the workers in this corner of the vineyard.  
We need to let go of the idea that Church is a place we go to in order to receive. We go to Church to be strengthened and we go to Church so that we can be sent forth to carry out the mission of the Church in the world. I am convinced that God has me in Stoughton for a definite purpose, and that’s to work on my own growth in holiness by serving the body of Christ present in each of us that gather here. I am equally convinced that God has a definite purpose for each of you reading these words and for many more people whose lives He wants to touch through our actions and prayer. May God continue to bless this corner of His vineyard. May each of us respond with generosity and holy boldness to God’s invitations, and may each coming year find us further along in fulfilling the mission of building up God’s kingdom on earth as we prepare to rejoice in the glory of the kingdom in Heaven.—Fr. Carlos