Dear Parish Family,

This weekend, we celebrate All Souls Day at our Masses. All Souls, or the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, dates back to the first centuries of the Church where prayers were offered for all the baptized who died in Christ in the hope of His resurrection. All Souls Day is celebrated the day after All Saints Day where we venerate the communion of saints to whose number we hope to belong in the Kingdom of Heaven. These feasts remind us of the eternal desire in our hearts for heaven and for the perfect life of love, grace, and peace to radiate fully within our spiritualized bodies through Christ.

 

It is fitting on All Souls Day to say prayers for souls in purgatory who are being cleansed of the effects of sin and making them perfect in love for heaven, and also to visit the cemeteries where our loved ones are buried. If you and your family have time today or this week, stop by a cemetery to pray for our beloved dead in Christ.

 

We will celebrate the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick at all of our Masses next weekend. Please come or bring your family members or friends who need to be anointed. Fr. Fabian, Fr. Gary and I are honored to celebrate this beautiful Sacrament with and for you. The Sacrament is for those who are experiencing a serious illness, a life-threatening condition or diagnosis, or experiencing the debilitating effects of age. If you or a loved one needs to be anointed but cannot come to Mass next weekend, please call our parish office and one of our priests will arrange a visit.

 

Remember, it's best to bring a priest for anointing sooner rather than later. This allows the person being anointed to have more participation during the anointing, and a chance for family members to arrange to be present during the anointing so the sacrament is a communal experience. Arranging ahead of time also gives more time for the sacramental grace to take effect at the onset of a serious or life-threatening illness.

 

You may wish to pick up a Funeral Pre-Planning Folder in our gathering space this month. While these are available year-round, November is a fitting month to look at how Christ and His Church invite us to consider our own death and the Funeral Liturgies of the Church which should be part of our arrangements. Having a Funeral Plan in place both helps us know the Church's teaching on funeral 

arrangements and helps family members entrusted with our funeral arrangements to plan our funerals in keeping with these teachings. All the information you need is included in the folder to plan, and it's never too early or too late to get a plan in place!

 

We had a great Classic Italy pilgrimage meeting a few weekends ago with 36 people in attendance! As of this writing, we have about 20 pilgrims registered so far with a maximum capacity of 45. Eddie gave an overview of the itinerary, answered questions, and also noted that there is a date and price change due to flight schedules and general interest in Italy trips. The new dates are May 17-27 (one day earlier), and the cost went up from $5,200 to $5,600. Once we get over 40 pilgrims registered (which I have no doubt we will do!), we will apply the travel credits we have to bring the price per traveler down to $5,250. New flyers are available in the back of church reflecting the date and price changes. I'd love to take this pilgrimage to Italy with you if you are able, so please consider coming, and register soon!

I am yours in Christ,

Fr. Scott Goodfellow