FROM THE PASTOR'S DESK……         January 25, 2004

Dear Fellow Parishioners,

I'd like to take this opportunity to share with you a wonderful experience that I have enjoyed this past week.  I'm referring to our Week of Christian Unity.  It has been a great blessing for me to gather with members of our San Miguel Mission Parish Community as we have visited other Christian Faith Communities in our local area for an evening of prayer and fellowship.  It has been like being on a pilgrimage.  A broad spectrum of different faith traditions in the Christian Family have been included in our schedule of visits over the entire week.  We conclude tonight, Sunday evening, January 25th beginning at 7:00 p.m. at St. Rose of Lima Church in Paso Robles.  We are the hosts for that event.

I have been amazed at how much our different faith traditions actually do have in common with one another.  So often we only notice the things that divide us.  It is refreshing to see the other side.  I feel that I myself have been enriched by sharing in prayer and other styles of worship that I don't often have the opportunity to experience and in which to participate.  If for some reason you have not been a part of this uplifting series of events, there is still time to participate.  I invite you to join me at 7:00 p.m. tonight at St. Rose of Lima Church in Paso Robles.  Tonight promises to be a glorious finale to our week-long pilgrimage and novena on behalf of unity in the Christian Family.

The second reading appointed for this Third Sunday in Ordinary Time from St. Paul's First Letter To The Corinthians presents the central theme for what we've been doing this past week:  "BROTHERS AND SISTERS: AS A BODY IS ONE THOUGH IT HAS MANY PARTS, AND ALL THE PARTS OF THE BODY, THOUGH MANY, ARE ONE BODY, SO ALSO CHRIST.  FOR IN ONE SPIRIT WE WERE ALL BAPTIZED INTO ONE BODY, WHETHER JEWS OR GREEKS, SLAVES OR FREE PERSONS, AND WE WERE ALL GIVEN TO DRINK OF ONE SPIRIT."  (1 Corinthians 12: 12)  Join us tonight as we take one more step towards realizing Jesus' last prayer/request the night before His Death.
    Sincerely yours in Christ,

       Fr. Ray Tintle, OFM
       Pastor