Dear Parishioners,

This week for Faith Formation, it is a Formation Night, dinner open to all 5:30-6:15 PM, and class from 6:15-7:30 PM for students.

This year, the hunters Mass which has been on the opening weekend, will be shifted to the Saturday of the second weekend (Sat. Nov. 15th at 6 PM at SJ). We have a wedding on opening weekend, and the additional Mass would interfere with the celebration of the wedding.

Thanks to all who participated in the pasty project this year. We appreciate your volunteer work!

We are celebrating all souls this weekend. At SJ, we have a new black vestment purchased by the Council of Catholic Women (CCW). Black is the traditional color for All Souls Masses, as well as funeral Masses, but not many parishes have black vestments and the practice had fallen out of style for a while. But in recent years (admittedly with younger clergy) the practice of wearing the black has come back. The liturgical color black notes a solemnity of mourning and symbolizes a recognition that we all will face death, and purification. Often black vestments have a silver or gold fringe that hints at the reality that even though we mourn on this day… we have hope and recognize the glory that we hope to share with God in eternity.

All Souls is a special day which the church prays for the dead. The church teaches that souls that are not fully prepared to enter heaven at the moment of death, pass through a purgative stage by which they are purified of anything which prevents them from entering heaven. See below the relevant paragraphs from the Catechism: 

1030 All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. 

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. the tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire: 

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come. 

1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: Therefore Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin. From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead: 

Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them. 

Thus, it is a praiseworthy thing to pray for the dead. Indeed, the church urges us to do so as a sign of charity and fellowship with the faithful departed. At some point in the future, we may be dependent on the prayers and charity of others in this regard. Thus, let us not fail to participate in the sanctification and purification of those who have gone ahead of us. During this month of November, we in a special way pray for those who are deceased. We have a book of remembrance at OLF and SJ, where parishioners can write names of deceased family members. We will pray for them throughout this month. 

In Christ,

Fr. Eli