Dear Friends,
I am deeply grateful and excited to begin my priestly ministry with you at St. Simon Parish. My name is Fr. Thanh Ho, and I come to St. Simon with a heart full of hope and anticipation for the journey we will share together.
My hope is to deepen our relationship with Christ and with one another, and I look forward to celebrating your joys, supporting you through life’s challenges, learning your stories, and serving you.
On this 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jesus once more reminds us of the superiority of love over legalism. Even though the Mosaic Law showed the moral path to follow, we do not have the strength needed to fulfill them on our own efforts—it is only by cooperating with God’s grace that we can conduct our lives pleasing to Him.
After the scholar asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, the Gospel of Luke does not explicitly provide a follow-up account of the scholar’s actions: did he “go and do likewise” as Jesus commanded? Whether he did or not, the commandment to “go and do likewise” is for every reader of the Gospel, and the parable challenges us to examine our own responses to those who need our help. Rather than asking who my neighbor is, we should be asking how am I being a good neighbor toward anyone in need, regardless of social, ethnic, or religious boundaries.
As we gather each Sunday to be nourished by the Holy Eucharist, we come from different backgrounds and circumstances, yet united in our need for healing and hope. Jesus Christ crosses every boundary to meet us in our need, extending his healing hands and providing for our journey toward eternal life.
In moments of silence, I invite you to reflect on how God is calling you to be a good neighbor in our parish and broader community. Perhaps, it is through joining one of our ministries to serve one another, reaching out to someone who seems isolated or neglected, or simply offering a warm greeting to unfamiliar faces. We all have neighbors in need, and the question is will we have the courage and compassion to stop, see, and serve.
Together, let us strive to make St. Simon a parish where everyone experiences the love of Christ through our Christian living, where the command to “go and do likewise” becomes the heartbeat of our community.
Peace,
Fr. Thanh Ho