Pentecost XXV
Our social hall was filled today for our All Saints party
Our 2018 saints
✠ The Bishop’s Corner ✠
November is for the birds. One of those beautiful sunny mornings last week I had a cardinal, a bluebird and a robin in quick succession. The starlings put on their usual airshow before sunset. Nobody crashed, always a plus. Caravaggio watched from within with feigned feline indifference.
These last days since Tuesday’s Funeral gave us a chance to rest some from the so busy “All” weekend of All Saints, All Souls and All Saints Sunday. But we still celebrated Fr. Nkamuke’s fifth anniversary (he is our preacher this morning) and the school children visited St. Stephen’s Cemetery on Wednesday. There was a nice pizza lunch for the children on Thursday. Plans continue afoot for the “Silver Anniversary.” I guess we didn’t rest that much, after all!
Fr. McKenna met snow again in North Dakota, and Fr. Cekada at the seminary faced Florida’s humid heat without an air conditioner. The indefatigable Bishop Sanborn left for a quick visit to his faithful in Budapest, Hungary. The Sisters of St. Thomas Aquinas have started work on their new convent.
The All Saints procession and presentation was a great success. I thank our Sisters for their work and the parents too. We had more saints than in a long time. As usual I was amazed, edified, amused, charmed and only slightly chagrined once by the different presentations. The main thing was the number of parents and children who participated in honoring the saints. We laid a great foundation for future years. The different kinds of skits were a creative idea, involving many children, and one parent too. As usual there were some really unique costumes, especially the “moving tableau” or table of St. John the Baptist’s head. Wonderful! And an original poem, and the pioneering Brothers’ Act. Many possibilities there. And a touching personal reference for St. Peregrine. This was a memorable Sunday! I am very grateful.
I am grateful too for the many ladies who sent in food for the Pat Patton funeral luncheon, and that so soon after the weekend. We had just about the right amount of food, and the delightful dessert table was a plus. God reward your generosity.
Next on the docket is this afternoon’s Gate of Heaven Cemetery Rosary Procession. I’d appreciate any help in coordinating the route so that we can visit the graves of our deceased along the way.
Think and talk today about the wickedness, cruelty and futility of war, one hundred years after WWI. And here we are with our longest war, Afghanistan, as well as the war on life in the womb. Thank you, GOP! But it’s no party for the victims. And they wonder why schools and synagogues and concerts and bar and offices are all the time being shot up. There’s a lot more that could be said, but say a rosary instead.
Oh, but let’s end on a happier note. Friday is our 15th anniversary in our “new” church, and the feast day of our ever gracious patroness, St. Gertrude the Great. How she has protected and prospered us over the years. Whisper a little prayer of thanks, and do join in the great prayer of the Mass for her feast on Friday.
“You shall find Me in the Heart of Gertrude.” How many souls have over the past 40 years. How ever could we thank God adequately? Only by offering Jesus to the Father in Holy Mass.
May you too find a home in the “heart of Gertrude.”
–Bp. Dolan