Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

May the Lord Jesus Christ watch over all of us during this time of transition. I would like to express my joy and sense of gratitude at being called to serve you as your pastor. Since my ordination six years ago, I have been coming on and off to cover for certain masses and events, and like you all, I witnessed the renovation of the Church and also of the community. 

In a way, when I was told I was coming to St. Joseph I felt like I was coming to a familiar place. I had for a while even hoped to be assigned here to help Fr. Pete, who is a dear friend of mine and mentor to me, especially as I went through my seminary training. He loves you all very much and so I will make it my task to love you as well.

Love, Christian Love is not a feeling or an emotion that passes away, nor is it an accident. We have this phrase “falling in love” and honestly I do not like it. One does not stumble into love, nor is it a trap. Love is an action, something we choose. This is why God gave us free will, for us to truly and honestly respond to the Love that he has shown us. Love is sharing the best of us to other to give life. God showed this by giving his only begotten Son so that we may live. The best that we can offer those around us is the gift of Faith, the knowledge of God and his Gospel, and this is key to my mission among you. I want to share the joy and peace I have found in serving God, and hopefully I will do so, not just through my preaching, but by the way I conduct my life, and for this, I will need your prayers.

As I told the parishioners at St. Patrick, we are all in a pilgrimage, and nowhere on Earth is truly home, we walk with each other for a while and then our paths take us to different locations, but through our faith in God, all our paths will converge in Heaven for all eternity. So for the time being, we will walk together during this stretch of the road, and we will learn from one another and support one another, keeping always in mind our destination, our ultimate desire. As for me, this desire is well illustrated in my favorite Psalm, 27:

“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.” - Ps. 27:4

I pray that all of us make this our goal and prayer.

Pax et bonum,

Fr. Chris Becerra