When the Saints come Marching in: One of my favorite feast days is All Saints, which we have the opportunity to celebrate this weekend since November 1 falls on a Sunday this year. Who is your favorite saint and why? St. Theresa of Lisieux, St. John Vianney, St. Maria Goretti and St. Maximilian Kolbe are some of my personal favorites.
Halloween: I hope all the children enjoyed trick or treating and their candy. Every Halloween I am reminded of one of my favorite stories from a now-retired priest. When this priest was at his first parish 50 plus years ago, the pastor made him pass out apples instead of candy. Well, a little girl dressed like an angel came to the door. This priest thought, how sweet, I’ll give her two apples instead of one. When he dropped the apples into her bag, she looked up, and said, “hey, you smashed my candy, you (I’ll leave the rest out☺).”
All Souls Day: November 2 is All Souls Day as we pray for the all those who have gone before us. On Tuesday, November 3, we will celebrate Mass for all those who have died this past year from our parish family. All are welcome for the 5:30 p.m. Mass and reception following. By the way, it’s been nice to pray for our deceased Holy Family parishioners during Mass on the day they died.
Ushers: Also, on Tuesday evening after the Mass and reception for our deceased members of our parish, I will be at Brick Street for a gathering of the ushers. Thank you, ushers, for all your dedication and service to our parish.
Fr. Joe in the Know: Many of you know Fr. Joe Krupp on a personal level, but many of you know him when you read Faith Magazine and his regular columns. Our heart and prayers go out to him and his family as they mourn the loss of their mother, Martha, who died on October 24. I lived with Fr. Joe for a couple years in East Lansing. He is a very special priest.
Didn’t know: Just found out that our school is a really good steward of the environment. I’ve talked about the garden the school children planted in May and how they provided a lot of food for Holy Family Outreach this year. They hope to expand the garden next year. Additionally, over the past 15 years the school has been recycling paper; each month our parish and school recycle on average four tons of paper products. We are now expanding our recycling efforts to plastics in our school.
Baptisms in October: We are thankful for the baptisms this month: Estella Bernabe, daughter of Philip and Kimberly Bernabe; Beau Gilvin, son of Andrew and Lindsay Gilvin; Brody Rodriguez, son of Chris and Jaime Rodriguez; and Riley Rachut, daughter of Niles and Juliet Rachut.
Have a blessed week and be assured of my prayers.
Saint quote of the week:
“If a tiny spark of God’s love already burns within you, do not expose it to the wind, for it may get blown out. Keep the stove tightly shut so that it will not lose its heat and grow cold. In other words, avoid distractions as well as you can. Stay quiet with God. Do not spend your time in useless chatter.”
St. Charles Borromeo, Feast Day November 4
Msgr. Jerry