"We shall press on!"

We Shall Press On

Short address to the

2025 Congregational Meeting.

Over two thousand years ago, Jesus visited the synagogue at Capernaum.  There, he was given the roll of the Prophet Isaiah, and after reading the lesson, Jesus said, “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” (Luke 4:21).

Today, verse 17 of our first lesson reads, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.  And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are, therefore, Christ’s very own ambassadors.”

My friends – today “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day.”

St. David’s is a living proof that in Christ the new creation has come among us.  Even being a small community of faith coming from widely different backgrounds and abilities, different experiences and outlooks we have come together, not only reconciled with God but with each other.  In one spirit, we have come together joining our time, resources, and hopes to worship God and to serve our neighbors in the name of Jesus.

Perhaps in all Virginia St. David’s is the smallest embassy of them all.  But my friends, your life and witness truly reflect who you have become:  Christ’s very own ambassadors.

Does it mean that we are all set and done?  Certainly not.  If we look around to the empty seats and the needs all around us, the work has been cut out for us. 

But, as we look the year ahead of us, we will focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, remaining joyful, keeping the faith and taking care of the small things we shall press on to reach the end of the race and in due course receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us, (Philippians 3:19-20).

Now let me add another piece of good news: God knows us – not as we wish we were – but inside out, as we truly are.  And God still loves us!  “For God so loved the world…”

So, now my friends, my brothers and sisters, and my fellow ambassadors, let us go forth into the world, in the name of Christ, for we shall press on!

Fr. Gustavo