July 23, 2023 - Pastor Message
04/30/2024THE YEAR OF MISSION
OUR VALUES (cont.)
“We are a parish who stands firmly on the foundation of our past. We are a parish who understands and responds to the changing needs of all families today” (Our Parish Values Statement).
Continuing our reflection on our parish’s Values statement, our prayer and pledge to serve our mission guided by six core principles in which we as a parish believe, we look this week at our second and third principles. These statements complement one another, uniting our cherished past with our ever-changing present to guide and propel us into a future full of hope.
At St. Boniface, our past provides a source of great pride as well as valuable lessons on which to build our efforts to serve our mission today. St. Boniface Parish began 167 years ago when a group of German and Irish immigrant farmers living in the woods south of Erie recognized a need for a spiritual home in their area. Taking the initiative, they approached Bishop Young asking for a parish, and he obliged, sending our first pastor, Fr. Oberhofer.
While the parish would experience many challenges along the way, some of them self-made, we have always overcome them by adapting to the changing needs of each age. The parish, which began worshiping together in a parishioner’s home, needed a church, so the families pooled their resources and built one. The children needed a faith-filled education, so the parish established a school, first in the home where they worshiped, then in the church when it was built, and ultimately in a series of school buildings. The farmers needed a market for their crops, so the parish built a brewery, purchasing the farmers’ grain to brew our own beer, which was served at parish picnics and events. And so the story of our parish has gone, seeing the needs in each age, discerning how to respond, and through hard work and sacrifice meeting those needs together in faith.
The story goes on as we strive to understand and respond to the changing needs of families today. Though the specific needs have changed, we remain committed to the hard work and sacrifice needed to respond to them, placing our faith completely in the same God who has blessed the efforts of our forebears at St. Boniface for so many decades before and whom we believe will continue to do so for many more to come if we serve our mission faithfully and stand firmly on the core principles of our Values statement.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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