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June 30, 2023Dear Good People of St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Tybee Island,
I am very grateful to God, and to Bp. Stephen Parkes, for my appointment as your new pastor. Tybee Island has always been one of my favorite places, and I never dreamed that I would ever be the pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Church. My brothers and sister tease me that the prayers of our recently deceased mother from Heaven (Sylvia), were influential in this appointment! She truly loved Tybee and always found herself closer to God when she was here.
I grew up in Statesboro, Ga., and never once was able to attend a Catholic School until I entered the seminary (there are no Catholic schools in Statesboro). My family had a large tobacco farm, and all the boys were expected to work on that farm all summer. Work ethic was strongly inculcated in my family! I am not coming to St. Michael’s to retire.
Faith was also strongly instilled in me and my siblings. I am the product of a mixed marriage (my father is Baptist and my mother Catholic). My mother was from New Orleans, raised by the old school Jesuits, and she really taught us to love Jesus Christ, to go to Mass every Sunday, to obey the Lord’s teachings and to love the Blessed Mother. And she taught us to be kind!
St. Michael’s is a much smaller parish than most of my previous pastorates. I have been sent here specifically because it is small, because I have been assigned other work for the local and larger Church. In addition to being your pastor, I will be the Vicar for Priestly Life and Vocations for the Diocese of Savannah. In this position, I will be working in the vocation office, encouraging young men to consider priesthood and helping them in that discernment. I will visit our seminarians in their seminaries during the year and care for them until the day they are ordained priests. I will also be in charge of caring for our “junior priests” (ordained five years or less), priests continuing education and our retired priests. Finally, I will continue to give out of town retreats for priests and seminaries around the U.S. when invited and when I am able to do so. This is a specific apostolate in which I have been involved for the last fifteen years. Thus, you will likely see quite a few visiting seminarians and priests walking around the parish over the next few years!
St. John Paul II famously stated to millions of young people at World Youth Day some years back: “Jesus is the answer to which every human heart is the question.” The purpose of a priest is to bring people to Jesus and Jesus to people. He is “The Savior,” the only one who can save us! As your pastor, I will talk about Jesus constantly, and bring Him to you in His Word, in the Holy Eucharist, in all the sacraments of the Church…in His infinite love and kindness and truth.
I am very happy to be your new pastor!
Praised be Jesus Christ. Now and forever.
Amen.
Fr. Brett Brannen
