“You are not a human being in search
of a spiritual experience. You are a spiritual being
immersed in a human experience..”
Teilhard
de Chardin
Dear Friend,
Hello to you and Best from the West! I
am now writing from western Maryland and look forward to
meeting you & forming a spiritual relationship in our blessed
Catholic Faith!
As the above quote, by de Chardin
intimates, we are spiritual beings of God, His love and
Redemption, and are called to enter into the full range of human
experiences!
“We are God’s children now” as St. John reminds us in his
epistle! I Jn. 3:2)
I am preparing to arrive and thrive
there with you, and somehow follow in the footsteps of a mighty
pastor, Fr. Mike, who has been your shepherd for decades. He has
been wise, sacrificial, faithful,
charitable; and considering all these, he is holy, and thus a role
model for you & us all! I stammer to
follow him and have already witnessed his Faith as he has given
charity to the poor and lived simply
and revered the Mass, as well as loved you in so many ways. He is a
hero to us all an
“essential worker” to remind us of God’s glory and favor with us!
If you’re wondering who I am and what
I will do, here’s how I summarize Parish Life, as
“The Three S’s”: The “First S” is Spiritual= worship, sacred music,
prayer and
meditation, as first and foremost of our duties and blessings (“Love
the Lord your God!”).
It all starts from here, God!
The “Second S” is Service to others,
and uniquely the poor, sick and dying. We are Christians
and Catholics--think of the saintly souls who brought folks to the
Faith and God just by their
charity~! The “Third S” is social, as in hanging out with one
another, whether thru a
“coffee house” or simply taking a walk in the park, or
fellowshipping after Mass (or: how
about some b-ball?), we are a community and need one another!
I love being a priest (now: 33yrs!)
and am a-wonder at how God has blessed me so much thru this
sacred ministry! Since I love travel (“spiritual adventure”) I look
forward travelling with you,
or your to learn more about you, and some talents we can share
together! I’ve found people
“find God” a lot by finding in people like you a spark of His
Presence!
I grew up in Timonium, and went to
Towson St. Univ. (philosophy, mass communications) and then
seminary at Catholic University in D.C. I am one of five children
and love sports, art, hiking,music
and people. I have a dog, Bella, a young Labrador (do you have a
pool or stream in your
backyard?!), and a cat-John Paul/Paw, and they are wonderful
teammates for me!
I enjoy St. Therese’s spirituality and have embraced it as a way of
life: Do small things with
great love. Ie., Embrace God in the simple, ordinary, actions,
people and events of daily life: Practice
the Presence of God. Plus: I love French cheese (and wine!).
May we pray for one another in this time before we actually meet
that God will use us to save,
redeem, sanctify & divinize souls so we may become more Like Jesus
Christ and thus worship the
Blessed Trinity and bring more souls into Their Unity! Let’s thrive
together and continue the
wondrous, Christ-centered work Fr. Mike and all have done there into
the future!
Shahlom-Peace,
Fr. Jack Lombardi
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