Dear Parishioners

This Monday our country will celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King.  Race relations have always been a struggle for human kind from Ishmael and Isaac in the Old Testament to our present day, men and women of different races and faiths have struggled to get along.  Most recently we have seen the consequences of this in the conflict in the Holy Land.  We here in Saint Louis have also experienced the pain of people of different races and backgrounds failing to understand and exist with each other.  While we as a people and we as a Church have come a long way, much more understanding and Christian concern needs to be evident in our lives.

Our scriptures remind us that Christ came not just for Israel but for all people.  Let us follow the example of Christ in our thought, word and deed. The Catechism of the Catholic Church spells this out: The equality of women and  men rests essentially on their dignity as persons and the rights that flow from it: “Every form of social or cultural discrimination in fundamental personal rights on the grounds of sex, race, color, social conditions, language, or religion must be curbed and eradicated as incompatible with God’s design.

The Church of the Annunziata is a wonderful place, where people from different backgrounds and different races can come and worship together.   Hopefully this will always be a hallmark of our community.  Let us make every effort to make Annunziata a welcoming community for peoples of every race and ethnic background.

God Bless you for all your goodness.

Msgr. John Shamleffer