This note might seem as if I just dusted off last year’s Thanksgiving bulletin article as sometimes our ongoing thankfulness may seem as if it were recycled, a cliché-like sentiment. But I am truly grateful to God for my family, my health, for living in a great nation where freedoms, opportunities and hope are abundant, and for this parish—where being a priest comes with joy in the vocational call.
Thanks to Our St. Catherine’s Leaf Rakers A word of gratitude and thanks to the many men and women and younger parishioners who turned up to help with our 2019 annual leaf rake! It was a great success—with more than 23 lawns cleared of leaves complete with some 50 volunteer workers...
This is Forward with Faith Commitment Weekend. I am asking each parish family to join in our efforts to rebuild the Mystical Body of Christ—our Church—so as to enable us to lead people more deeply into knowing their faith and to draw people who have left the faith back home. No matter what the program or ministry or action step is, this is about the Salvation of our immortal souls and of the souls of those whom we love.
What will life be like in heaven—including what will our resurrected bodies be like; what will our relationships be like with loved ones we’ve spent time with on earth; what will our days in heavenly be filled with? Nearly all humans have considered questions like these and I am sure all Catholic priests have been asked similar questions.
On Friday, November 1, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of All Saints, a holy day of obligation, when the Church recalls and remembers those known saints proclaimed by the Church to be in the presence of the Beatific Vision—God—for all eternity. On Saturday, November 2, the Church then celebrates the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls) when we recall all who have died, our family, friends and strangers, who we hope and pray are now resting in the peace of Christ until they are raised to unending glory.
RCIA: Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults Our RCIA program is slated to meet every other Tuesday evening from November 5th through March 24th as we prepare adults to enter into the Catholic Church—either by Baptism, First Holy Communion and Confirmation—or by reception into full Communion with the Church from one of the Christian denominations.