As you read this, Fr. Derrek Scott and I recently visited the Durango deanery for four days of parish, mission and school visitations. We spent time with priests, deacons, parish staffs and leadership teams in conversations pertaining to our shared mission of discipleship in Jesus. These visits coincide with the request of the Holy Father to gather information for the papal Synod on Synodality. I ask you to prayerfully participate in the survey which is on the home page of our website www.dioceseofpueblo.org. Along with the survey, the parish visitations will help discern our strategic plans for the next three years. These plans will incorporate the three-year Eucharistic Renewal which begins next July in all Catholic dioceses across the United States. Fr. Derrek and I will be scheduling similar parish visitations in all deaneries throughout the diocese over the coming year.
"...the parish visitations will help discern our strategic plans for the next three years."
I will travel to Baltimore for the November plenary session of the USCCB. I look forward to this trip with confidence that a foundational, practical document on the Most Holy Eucharist will be brought forward by the bishops. This will be a significant step in our preparation for the Eucharistic Renewal. Under the intercession of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of our country, please pray for the bishops, and especially that an inspiring document on the Eucharist be promulgated shortly thereafter.
As we approach the ending of Ordinary Time and prepare for the Season of Advent, it is my prayer that the diocese be renewed in its missionary vision over the next three years. Our strategic plan is entering its fifth year. We have made strides together, however the mission field is still wide open and beckoning, calling laborers to the harvest. The goal is simply, and humbly, to accept and share the graces of the personal encounter with Jesus every day. We must allow Jesus to become more intentionally the center and the culture of our lives! From this we move together to bring the Good News into a world which so desperately needs it.
"...it is my prayer that the diocese be renewed in its missionary vision over the next three years."
In the changing of the seasons we are brought once again together to listen, watch and pray. As we begin our parish visitations, I invite you to listen to your heart, watch for the signs of God’s work in these changing times, and pray always. The renewal of our diocesan vision with Christ, our Eucharist at our center, is on the horizon.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
+Most Reverend Stephen J. Berg
Bishop of Pueblo