From the Pastor&
The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis will celebrate its 150th Anniversary as a diocese in the year 2000.  It was in July, 1850, that Joseph Cretin of Dubuque was named bishop of St. Paul.  The diocese went from Lake Superior to the Missouri River, from Iowa to Canada.  The region in 1850 had 3000 Catholics, about 7000 fewer than St. John the Baptist parish in 1999!  If you would like to know more about the history of our Archdiocese, there is a beautiful new book hot off the press.  It was written by Sister John Christine Wolkerstorfer, C.S.J., entitled, You Shall Be My People.  We have several hundred copies for sale at $20.00 each.  It would make a great Christmas gift.  They will be for sale in the parish office, or next weekend in the Church narthex (west entrance).  I personally believe it's worth buying.  As Roman Catholics, we gather around the local bishop.  We are bigger than the local parish...we belong to the diocese.  We can learn from the past, from our wonderful history, especially when it comes to parish life. 
There are over 220 parishes in the archdiocese.  St. John's  in New Brighton is 98 years old.  St. Ambrose in Woodbury is 2 years old.  In what parish did you grow up?  We were baptized and named in a parish. We learned our faith there.  We come together, as Catholics, in our parish: we worship God, and share our joys, our blessings, our grief. 
Father Andrew Greely says that we take our parishes for granted like the air we breathe.  He goes on to say, "Parishes are in fact absolutely unique:  there is nothing quite like them anywhere in the world."
What makes a parish community unique and wonderful?  It is the people we share warmth with.  We are supported  by others, we share joys and sorrows, and we make close friendships with other folks in the parish.  And the parish school is one of the most powerful community-building institutions which human ingenuity has ever devised.  We have graduates of our school in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s who are still close friends!
Our ancestors came to this country as immigrants and the parish was their entry into American society.  The parish was all they had and helped them adjust to the New World.  St. John's was home for Polish Catholics.  It was here that they built a church, and eventually, a school.  Other nationalities had their parish:  Holy Reedemer for Italians, Assumption for the Germans, St. James for the Irish, Our Lady of Lourdes for the French and the list goes on and on.  If we don't know our history as American Catholics, we really don't know ourselves as we enter the new millennium.
Are parishes still important today for Catholics?  They are alive and, for the most part, very healthy.  We keep trying to improve the liturgy and homilies; we work for justice; we perform charity; we keep our school and religious education programs strong for kids; we care for the sick and the dying.  Parishes are important, not because we need them like our ancestors did, but because people want them.  In this impersonal society, the parish gives us a sense of

belonging.
Some "avant-garde" Catholics think that the parish is a relic of the past, an outmoded experience, indeed something to be ashamed of.  They think that the parish is embarrassing because they don't need or want it.  The American Catholic parish is unique and unifying.  Why would anyone want to replace it with another impersonal experience?  We come from a great tradition of parishes, not always perfect, but still great.
Let's go into 2000 and continue the great tradition of parish life.  The last thing we need is a church where we run in and do "my" thing and then run out again.  We need to build on tradition and make warmth happen...with the help of God.