Friday, November 1 is the Feast of All Saints. This is a HOLY DAY OF OBILGATION, which means that we are to participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass under the pain of mortal sin. So, to deliberately miss Mass on a Holy Day of Obligation is a matter for confession. One may not receive the Eucharist until one has received the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This has always been a teaching of the Church that has never been changed except in the minds of some people, including some priests as well. Masses will be at 7 PM for the vigil on Thursday, October 31, and 9:30 AM and 7 PM on November 1
The Feast of All Saints provides the opportunity to honor all those who have gone before us in faith and now are enjoying eternal life and happiness in God’s heavenly kingdom. We realize that there are more saints in heaven than we may know or have been officially canonized by the Church. All the saints give us a wonderful example of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. The saints are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice. In Matthew 24, Jesus tells us that we will be judged at the end of life based on His command to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, and visit the sick and imprisoned because when we do these things for anyone, we do them for Jesus Himself. For this He will welcome us into the Father’s House where He has prepared a place for us.
On Saturday, November 2, we celebrate the Feast of All Souls or Poor Souls. On this day, we especially pray for those who have died and have not yet reach the heavenly kingdom. We pray for the poor souls in purgatory. Purgatory is that state of being in which we make up for our sins on earth and thereby complete the journey to God our Creator. Our prayers are very important to the poor souls because they cannot help themselves. The best prayer that we can offer for the poor souls is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. That is why it is so important to have Masses said for the dead. We will have our annual Memorial Mass for those who have died this past year on Monday, November 4, at 7 PM in the church. All are invited to attend this Mass, especially those who have lost loved ones this past year.
Today we celebrate Priesthood Sunday as we pray for our parish priests and for an increase in vocations to the priesthood. We are very fortunate to have a seminarian with us this weekend, we welcome Billy Reed, a seminarian from Borromeo Seminary, who will speak at all the Masses after Communion to share with us his vocation story. You will find an insert in today’s bulletin with the pictures of all the seminarians at Borromeo and St. Mary Seminaries. Also, the insert contains a letter from Bishop Malesic to all the young people of our diocese. Please keep our young people in your prayers for vocations that they may be open to God’s call to the ordained or religious life. Ask God to help all of us to encourage any young person who may show signs of a religious vocation or expressed interest in serving God and the Church in this way.
Last weekend we held our Annual Solemn Eucharistic Devotions with our closing Mass at 5 PM on Sunday. Fr. Michael Garvin, our guest homilist, gave a beautiful and inspiring homily. I am very grateful for his time and effort in sharing God’s Word with us. I am grateful for everyone who made the weekend so very prayerful and beautiful, especially the closing Mass. Fr. Joe Robinson and Deacon Rich did a great job with the Mass and procession and with the altar servers who did a very fine job being so prayerful and reverent, giving their time and effort. I am grateful to the Knights of Columbus and to the children of our Confirmation and First Communion classes as well as their teachers and catechists, Abby Cook, Maggie McCarron, Lisa Kelley, Katherine Robbins, Michelle Tomei, and Jess Allen. Thank you also to our musicians and cantors as well as our ushers and lectors. May God bless all who took part in this special time of adoration of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.
This year we celebrate 75 years for Sacred Heart School. The school was started by Fr. Korab and 4 Vincentian Sisters of Charity from Bedford, Ohio. The school started with the one-story building on Humbolt Ave. A few years later a second story was added and in 1994, a new addition was added with more classrooms, school offices, and the gym. Several years later a new science lab and computer lab was added. Sacred Heart School continues to grow in many ways especially in providing a fine Catholic education to our young people. Last Monday, October 20, Bishop Malesic came to celebrate Holy Mass with the school children to begin our 75th Anniversary year. It was a prayerful and beautiful Mass. The bishop’s homily was inspiring and encouraging the children and staff to continue the good work begun in 1949, at Sacred Heart School. We are very grateful to Bishop Malesic for being with us for this important milestone in the history of our parish family. Thank you to Mr. C and all those who made this a very beautiful and memorable event. May God continue to bless Sacred Heart School.
