Jairus, a synagogue official and man of authority risked everything for his daughter’s
sake. His love made him unafraid to face reproach by society and change within. God
not only heals Jairus’s daughter but transforms his entire family. This divine compassion
brings healing and hope. I pray that you will not fear being disturbed by God’s guidance
for God’s accompaniment of our lives calls us to change our lives and transform our
community to be more mission-driven and spiritually alive.

It is in this same spirit that I urge you to take the accompaniment by the Lord toward
personal spiritual growth and true discipleship without fear. Like Jairus, we must be
ready to disrupt our comfort zones and embrace genuine personal change. The Holy
Spirit will shift our spiritual priorities from mere institutional religious involvement to
genuine transformative encounters with Jesus and an intentionally mission-driven life.
We must be open to learning anew, changing our usual ways, stepping out of comfort,
and embracing the leadership of the Holy Spirit in our lives. For our community to
become a missionary Church, I urge you to take the new direction and transformation of
our community. Let us trust more in Jesus, who will wade into our mess to bring
restoration of faith in our church and the revival of mission for our community.

Let us take this step together unafraid of disturbance by the Holy Spirit when I present
to you the call to make commitments to bring to life each core mission priority area of
our SJE church community and become instruments of personal transformation,
discipleship, and community revival.

By:

Fr. Pete Literal Chaplain