Fr. Ron Wekerle begins as pastor at Our Lady of the Snows on July 6

Dear Friends,

My name is Ron Wekerle and I’m delighted to be back in the Wood River Valley, serving as your parish priest! I will recognize a few faces because I lived in Ketchum for my high school years, moving to the Valley in the late 1970’s. I graduated from WRHS in 1980, so you can figure out how old I am — I’ll be celebrating my 41st high school reunion this summer!  I’m very grateful to Fr. Justin and the Staff who have made my initial transition to the parish so welcoming and carefree. Please let us pray for all the priests in transition this summer.

I look forward to meeting you! You will soon find out that I believe that the key message of Jesus is joy, kindness, relationship and mercy. These are pastoral themes that we will reflect on time and time again because they are core Gospel values of Jesus. Among the other values of Jesus that are close to my heart, is hospitality!  Welcoming the stranger, feeding the needy, walking together with those who are sad are all key to living the gospel that we so love.  Please help me in welcoming people to the parish. Whether they are old time residents, part-time parishioners, vacationers/visitors/guests or simply people passing by our doors, join me in welcoming people to our parish. How wonderful will it be meeting together to hear God’s word and celebrating Mass!
 
Finally, as we begin our journey together, I want you to know that working TOGETHER to build the Kingdom is an important priority for me. Hispanic or Anglo, wealthy or humble, young or old, those from Ketchum/Sun Valley or Hailey or Fairfield, I hope that we can work together to build ONE united parish community to serve God. I look forward to meeting you after the Masses and/or at one of the welcome receptions that are planned.   

Blessings, Father Ron