We the members of St. Mary's parish recognize the call to nourish the people of God in their diverse cultures; we therefore commit ourselves to deep in the awareness of our reality and to create and environment of change and empowerment that enables us to build the Kingdom of God.

1. No one can stand alone; we need each other (Rom 14.19).  We, at St. Mary's recognize our interdependency.  The three Divine Persons of the Holy Trinity depend on each other to form the One and Only God.  In the same way we depend on each other for our personal survival, growth salvation as well as that of the community.

2. Therefore we are called to affirm and nourish each other in our faith and personhood.  This affirming and nourishing action, is to bring out in each of us the full potential with which God has gifted us.  Thus realized, each person can better serve God and humanity.

1. All those called to form an alliance with the God of Abraham and the God of Moses.  (Genesis 15/18 & Exodus 24/8).  All who belong to the New Covenant in the blood of Christ.  (I Corinthians 11/25, Vat II the Church #9).  Anyone who fears God and is acceptable to him (Acts 10/35, Vat II The Church #9)
2. We are of diverse cultures, background and sexuality but are united in one common humanity with mutual needs.  We are dependent on each other and share a common hope.  Our hope is that together we can build the “New Society of Love” (Puebla 1308) and a “world more human” (Vat II The Church in the Modern World #57).
3. With all our verity we are on in Christ, (I Cor 12).  We share the on Cup and the one Bread.  (I Cor 10/17).
4. Jesus commands us reach out to all people, inviting them into his Church (Mt. 28/19).  Therefore we must be an open and welcoming community, filled with an evangelical spirit and a missionary zeal.  Our parish, therefore, must be one that is open and welcoming.

1. We recognize that presently three main ethnic groups make up the composition of St. Mary of the Assumption parish: Ethno-European (“Anglos”), Latin American and Asian.  However, we also notice a small but growing number of African American and Middle Eastern Americans.  Besides the ethnic groupings we also recognize that there are town large sub-cultural groups.  These are the youth and senior citizens with their own particular needs and view of the world.  When we refer to St. Mary’s parish as “multicultural”, we are referring to all these groups.
2. “…the kingdom which the  Gospel proclaims is lived by men who are profoundly linked to a culture, and the building up of the Kingdom cannot avoid borrowing the elements of human culture or cultures.” (Pope Paul VI, On Evangelization in the Modern World #20)
3. We are all called to enrich each other with our diverse cultural insights.  (National Conference of Catholic Bishops – (The Hispanic Presence, #4)
4. God manifests himself in all the cultures. (Vat II, The Church in the Modern World, #58)

1. Too often we allow the media or our individual needs and prejudices to form our vision and understanding of life.  Therefore we must acquire skills that will enable us to do critical thinking, capable of analyzing the media and the events presented.  In order to rise above our own prejudices we must work at finding out how others live, feel and think.  The Judeo-Christian tradition calls this “compassion” (to fell with), and attribute that God claims for himself and for his faithful.  (Malachi 3/17, Exodus 22/26, Eph 4/32)
2. When looking at a problem, our tendency is to look at the symptom and not at the root cause.  We must learn the skills that will help us analyze events and get at the root causes.  In this way we can apply a remedy that will cause a real change in line with the Gospel (Luke 5/36-39).

1. The basic message of the Gospel is to repent and belive in the Good News, i.e., a call to conversion (Mark 1/15).  To “repent” to enter a process of conversion means to be open to the Holy Spirit who can and will bring about change for the better.
2. We must be open to social change, as well as to personal change. (Pope Paul VI, On Evangelization in the Modern World, #18,19)
3. Creating an environment of change, means having a spirit of hope in the future because we believe that things can always be better.  We base this optimism on our faith that the Lord of history has risen and has sent us his Spirit.  It is the Spirit who constantly calls us forward.  The Holy Spirit working in an through us is continuing the work of creation began by the Father and redeemed by the Son.  The Spirit is bringing the work of creation to perfection.  It is for this reason that the Genesis Story of creation speaks to us not so much of a “Paradise Lost” as of a “Paradise” we are to achieve with the help of the Holy Spirit…

1. Whether it aids the world or whether it benefits from it, the church has but one sole purpose – that the Kingdom of God may come and the salvation of the human race may be accomplished” (Vat. II, G.S. #45).  Only the Kingdom is absolute and it makes everything else relative (P.{. VI, Evangelization in the Modern World #8, Mt. 6/33).

2. The Kingdom becomes a reality in the measure that we allow God to Reign on earth as he does in heaven, that is, when we do his will (Mt. 6/10).  Doing God’s will, will necessary result in a society that allows for all people to live in human dignity ( Vat.  II, G.S., #29, c, d, 39, b) and in love.  It means that we must work to create a society that encourages all people to serve God and their fellow human beings.  In this spirit of service all are to make their pilgrimage toward the final realization of their personal history in God.  In the same Spirit all are to march toward the final  realization of human history, redeemed by Son and crowned at His Second Coming (Vat II, G.S., #26, 39, a).  This is the “Paradise” we are to achieve.
3. This transformation of hearts and social structures will be achieved through the Evangelizing work for the Church (Evangelization in the Modern World #18,19,20).