A Message from Father Tran<\/h3>\n
Dear Friends in Christ,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nAs many of you know, I will soon be leaving Saint Matthew Parish and School after serving this wonderful community for more than four and a half years. Farewells are never easy, and I will be leaving with a heart full of gratitude, love, and countless cherished memories.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nServing as your priest has been one of the greatest blessings of my life. Together we have celebrated the Holy Mass, welcomed new life through Baptisms, witnessed marriages, mourned the loss of loved ones, taught our children, and journeyed together in faith through both joyful and difficult times. I am deeply grateful for your kindness, prayers, friendship, and support throughout these years.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nTo our school families, faculty, and students: thank you for allowing me to be part of your lives and your faith journey. Your joy, energy, and witness to Christ have been a constant source of inspiration to me.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nAlthough I will be leaving Saint Matthew Parish and School, the bonds we share in Christ remain. Please know that I will continue to keep all of you in my prayers, and I humbly ask that you remember me in yours as well.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nMay the Lord continue to bless this parish and school abundantly in the years ahead. May Mary, Mother of Our Lord, and Saint Matthew pray for us.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nThank you once again for the privilege of allowing me to serve you.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nWith gratitude and prayers in Christ,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nFr. Tran<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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A Message from Deacon Grossheim<\/h3>\n
Dear Friends,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nWhen I first arrived at Saint Matthew last June, I began a transition from one way of life to another. I was completing a period of six continuous years of living and studying 500 miles away from home, and I knew that Saint Matthew would be my landing pad as I returned home to Tennessee. From the day I arrived, you all welcomed me in as one of your own. I even remember one moment last summer when I realized, for the first time in a long time, that I had begun to feel at home. At some point along the way, Saint Matthew had become home, my first home as a cleric.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nI began my life as a cleric at Saint Matthew, and my first baptisms and funeral were here. Here I became attuned to the rhythm of parish and school life, lived with you through good times and bad, and here I have made friendships I cherish. It has been a privilege to get to know you and to work with your children. Thank you for taking me in and letting me walk with you, and for everything you\u2019ve taught me along the way. I am so grateful to God for the gift that Saint Matthew has been to me personally and in my formation for the Priesthood.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nUpon my ordination to the Priesthood, Bishop Spalding has assigned me as Chaplain to Pope John Paul II Preparatory School and Chaplain of Faith Formation for Youth and Young Adults for the Diocese. Thank you for the ways you have challenged me and strengthened me for this assignment. I\u2019m sorry to leave Saint Matthew, and I will miss this wonderful community, but I\u2019m also excited to begin my life as a priest immersed in the lives of young people in our diocese. I know that God has wonderful things in store for me, and I\u2019m so grateful for the opportunity to serve Him as a priest.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nPlease know of my continued prayers for all of you, and please continue to keep me in your prayers as I begin this new ministry, that I will be a good and holy priest.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nYours in Christ,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nDcn. Grossheim<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[20],"tags":[626,83,624,623,210,625],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8233"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8233"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8278,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8233\/revisions\/8278"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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