Dear Friends in Christ,
There is so much going on that I’m not sure what to write about. Thank you to everyone that made our Taste of Africa event such a joyous occasion. I learned so much about the African culture of music, dance, and community. It was beautiful and the food was amazing!
This weekend we celebrate HarvestFest and I plan to do most of my Christmas shopping. We also have a ministry fair this weekend with a special focus on ministries that are looking for volunteers. This is a great way to get involved in our parish, we cannot do anything without you. If I could put as special plug in for our ministry for children on Sunday. We offer a nursery, Kate’s Kids, and Children’s Liturgy of the Word. We are blessed with lots of young people, and we really want these programs to thrive. Please consider helping us out. We provide important training and resources for these ministries to our kids so they and our parents can have a wonderful Sunday experience. Please join us!
The other single greatest way you can help our growing parish to thrive is through your donations. During the Fall it is always important to look at what we are giving to the Church and see if we might be able to increase our support. If you use our Faith Direct electronic giving this is very easy to do. I encourage you to pray about if you might be able to help us even through a modest increase in your offertory donations. Thank you so much for giving selflessly to help us realize the Kingdom of God.
This week we also celebrate All Saints and All Souls Day on Friday 1 November and Saturday 2 November. Friday is a Holy Day of Obligation, and we have two Masses at 8:30 AM and 7 PM. We will also add a special Mass on Saturday morning at 8 AM for All Souls Day.
Election Day is right around the corner and I have already taken advantage of early voting this year. More on this next week, but voting is a very serious thing and a civic duty. It is also a religious duty to educate ourselves and vote our conscience that is formed by our faith. This is especially important with an issue on the ballot that directly effects a moral issue like the respect for all human life. Thank you for prayerfully voting and may God bless our Country during this historic time.
Finally, with all this going on we thought it best to hold off on our Synod listening session. The Pastoral Council, Staff, and Adult Faith Committee will work to best prepare us for next steps in following Pope Francis to be a more synodal and listening Church. God Bless!
Sincerely yours in Christ
Fr. Matt
