Pastor’s Corner — December 7th, 2025
Welcome New Catholics at St Pat’s!
As you know we bring people into the Catholic Church three times a year: Solemnity of Christ the King, the Easter Vigil and the Solemnity of Pentecost. On November 22nd we welcomed twenty into full Communion with the Catholic Church at the Saturday 5pm Mass (At this Mass they also received their confirmation) I’m so proud of them!
Congratulations to: Fiona Astle, Matthew Baldwin, Ella Bush, Ethan Covert, Albert Emery, Christopher Holman, William Kristalyn, Noah Larkin, Mallary Martin, Alexis Meeker, Teagan O’Connor, Grace Piepho,Kelsey Prettenhofer, Marissa Radtke, Ian Schmidt, Bruce Schneider, Cameron Shifflet, William Stewart, Nick Theoret, Pamela Westenberg.
Please continue to pray for them as they make this new transition in their faith.
Four Week Advent Preaching Series on “Intentionally Following Jesus”
This week as we continue our series on Following Jesus Intentionally, we’ll be hearing from Fr Joshua as he preaches on the first two thresholds. If you missed last week’s introduction homily because you were out of town for Thanksgiving, you’re going to want to watch it on our YouTube channel here Wake Up: Getting to Heaven Does Not Happen By Accident.
Catholic author and speaker Sherry Weddell first developed the five thresholds of conversion in her influential book Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus (2012) and her excellent work is well known. Essentially, these thresholds of conversion are stages of personal growth that someone passes through to become an intentional disciple of Jesus. Weddell’s framework has become in some circles the seminal work of evangelization that outlines the personal dynamics of people coming to know, love and follow Jesus. Bishop Robert Barron summarizes the thresholds in this video: Bishop Barron on Intentional Discipleship. Below is a summary of the five thresholds to help you follow along with our preaching series.
The Five Thresholds of Discipleship
1. Initial trust: A person is able to trust or has a positive association with Jesus Christ, the Church, a Christian believer, or something identifiably Christian. Trust is not the same as active personal faith. Without some kind of bridge of trust in place, people will not move closer to God.
2. Spiritual curiosity: A person finds himself intrigued by or desiring to know more about Jesus, his life, and his teachings or some aspect of the Christian faith. This curiosity can range from mere awareness of a new possibility to something quite intense. Nevertheless, a person at the threshold of curiosity is not yet open to personal change. Curiosity is still essentially passive, but it is more than mere trust.
3. Spiritual openness: A person acknowledges to him or herself and to God that he or she is open to the possibility of personal and spiritual change. This is one of the most difficult transitions for a postmodern nonbeliever. Openness is not a commitment to change. People who are open are simply admitting they are open to the possibility of change.
4. Spiritual seeking: The person moves from being essentially passive to actively seeking to know the God who is calling him or her. It is, if you will, “dating with a purpose” but not yet marriage. Seekers are asking, “Are you the one to whom I will give myself?” At this stage, the seeker is engaged in an urgent spiritual quest, seeking to know whether he or she can commit to Christ in his Church.
5. Intentional discipleship: This is the decision to “drop one’s nets,” to make a conscious commitment to follow Jesus in the midst of his Church as an obedient disciple and to reorder one’s life accordingly
Welcome Kristi Hill, Our New Discipleship Administrative Assistant
I’m pleased to announce that we have hired St Pat’s Parishioner Kristi Hill to our staff as our Discipleship Administrative Assistant. She will be helping in various key ministries, including Alpha, Christian Service, OCIA, and Marriage Prep. Here is some information about herself.
My name is Kristi Hill. My husband, Michael, and I have been married for 15 years, and we have two children at St. Pat’s School—Avery in second grade and Wyatt in sixth. We’ve been parishioners since moving to Brighton three and a half years ago, and this community has truly made us feel at home. Much of my time is spent at the ice rink or the horse barn cheering on my kids’ passions, and in my quieter moments, I enjoy baking and reading.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to join the parish staff as the new Discipleship Administrative Assistant. I’ve volunteered in Christian Service, Walking with Moms in Need, and CGS, and through these ministries St. Patrick has become a true spiritual home for me. I feel called to this role because I’ve seen firsthand how meaningful and transformative the journey of discipleship can be, and I’m excited to support others along the way. I look forward to meeting more members of our community and serving our discipleship ministries.
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias