TODAY IS WORLD MISSION SUNDAY. We celebrate this day by remembering our baptismal call – to bring the Gospel to all! The collection today for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith supports the work and witness of the Mission Church. It provides for priests, religious, and lay leaders who offer the Lord’s mercy and help to the most vulnerable communities in the Pope’s mission. You can donate through our electronic giving. Thank you for your generosity.
Today we will have our Solemn Closing of our Annual Eucharistic Devotions with Mass and a procession with the Blessed Sacrament. Our guest homilist for the closing Mass is Fr. Jon Hawkins, Parochial Vicar at Holy Family Parish in Stow. Fr. Hawkins was ordained to the priesthood this past May and grew up here at Sacred Heart.
Those preparing to receive their First Holy Communion and Confirmation will also join in our procession to honor the Eucharistic presence of our Lord. Please make every effort to participate in this special weekend of praise and prayer as we give thanks to God for the gift of Himself in the Holy Eucharist.
Soon it will be November, the month of the Poor Souls. The Feast of the Poor Souls is on Sunday, November 2. There is an envelope for the Poor Souls in your envelope packet. To make use of this envelope, print the names of your deceased relatives and friends on the back. Names will be placed in the book of the dead in the chapel during the month of November so that we can pray for them. Donations are used to offer Masses and prayers for the Poor Souls throughout the coming year. Since November 2 falls on a Sunday, we will have our Mass for all those who have died this past year on that same day at 5:00 PM in the church. At this Mass for the faithful departed, we will read off the names of those from our parish family who have died this past year. Everyone is welcome to participate in this Mass for the Faithful Departed.
It is very important that we pray for those who have died. The souls in purgatory cannot pray for themselves. They must rely on our prayers and sacrifices to help them complete their journey to the Father. The most important and efficacious prayer we can offer for the souls in purgatory is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It has been said that these souls have appeared to individuals begging them to have Masses said for them so that they can enter the joy of heaven. It is easy to forget the poor souls in purgatory. Some do not believe it even exists. Not too many people go straight to heaven. Most of us are probably going to spend some time in purgatory. Let’s not forget these poor souls so that we will not be forgotten when we are there ourselves.
I will write more next month about our belief in purgatory so we can reflect on it during the month of November, as well as some thoughts and directions on how we and our families can go about planning a funeral for our loved ones when they die.
October is Respect Life Month, a time for us to pray for a greater respect for all human life from conception to natural death. Our respect for all human life is not just a teaching of the Church, but it is the TEACHING OF GOD. The Fifth Commandment states simply, “You shall not kill.” The commandments of God written by God Himself cannot not be changed, updated, or amended in any way. We all have free will given to us by God to choose for ourselves what to do, and we will be judged by God accordingly. If we teach others to disobey God’s Law, then we are held accountable, as well.
As in all the commands and teachings of God and the Gospel there is one simple purpose and that is to love. God gave us the commandments to teach us how to love Him and one another. Why do parents teach their children to do certain things and avoid others? Is it not because they love their children and want to protect them from any harm even if the child does not see or understand the danger? God is our Father and He watches over us. We must learn to trust in God’s love for us even when we do not understand or even agree with His Word. We must know that God knows better than we do what is best for us. Let us trust in the Lord and teach others to do the same through our prayers and example.
