Greetings Brothers and Sisters,

‘Project GROW OLG’ sprouted from an encounter I had with the Crucified Lord, who summoned me to serve Him a few more years before retiring from active ministry. Therefore I do not consider this initiative as coming from me or the ‘Project Grow OLG’ team but from God himself.

Jesus willingly gave up His life on the cross, to reconcile us to God and make us God’s children and He established the Church so that we can live as God’s family on this earth. And Jesus gave us the sacraments to keep us united to Him, and thus be holy children of God, through His merits and not our own.

The sole purpose of ‘Project Grow OLG’, therefore is to grow as a happy family of God under the patronage of Our Blessed Mother. We are already the family of God and God’s immense love for us is totally revealed in Jesus when God gives up His life for us on the cross. ‘Project Grow OLG’ is to grow in our love for God in response to God’s love for us.

Our love for God expresses itself and grows in the many activities we do together as God’s family; through our outreach like Vincent De Paul and homeless ministry; through activities, we do to build up the parish community, by participating in various ministries in our parish and above all by the loving celebration of the Sacraments. Just as Jesus gives himself to us through his sacrifice on the Cross, so we give ourselves to God through our sacrifices and grow in our love of God through the sacrificial giving of our time, talent and treasure to God.

So the outcome of the whole project will depend on the depth of our love for God and on how we are growing in that love. So let us pray and work together diligently so that we may grow in the love of God and God will accomplish the best through us.

Respectfully,

Fr. Mathew Rappu

Pastor, Our Lady of Grace Church