From Father George's Desk 10/19/25

The month of November is dedicated to All Souls.  As we approach this annual commemoration, you are invited to write the names of deceased loved ones in our Books of Remembrance, located near the baptismal fonts at both Holy Family and St. John.  At every Mass in November, as we pray for the dead, we will especially remember those whose names are written in our books. Please take the opportunity through All Saints Day to add to our Book of Remembrance anyone you would like the parish to pray for.

All Souls’ Day falls on a Sunday this year so our parishes’ All Souls’ Masses of Remembrance will be celebrated during that week: at Holy Family on Monday, November 3 at 6:30PM and at St. John on Wednesday, November 5 at 6:30PM; at these Masses we will remember in a special way each person buried from the parish since last All Souls’ Day. Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend this annual commemoration.

Saturday, November 1st is the Solemnity of All Saints and is, typically, a holyday of obligation; however, when it falls on a Saturday, the obligation to attend Mass is abrogated, i.e. cancelled.  However, for those who would like to celebrate the solemnity, Mass will be celebrated on All Saints’ Day at 10:00AM at Holy Family.

Our inaugural quarterly Anointing Mass, held at St. John last month, was very positively received.  Our next Anointing Mass will celebrated on Saturday, November 8 at 10:00AM at Holy Family.  These Masses not only provide more chances to celebrate the Sacrament of Anointing of Sick but also present a wonderful opportunity raise the awareness and understanding of the sacrament.  All too often we think this sacrament is only for those at the point of death, however, “This sacrament gives the grace of the Holy Spirit to those who are sick: by this grace the whole person is helped and saved, sustained by trust in God, and strengthened against the temptations of the Evil One and against anxiety over death.  Thus the sick person is able not only to bear suffering bravely, but also to fight against it. [Pastoral Care of the Sick #6]

Election Day is just around the corner.  I remind everyone that it is the long-standing policy of the Diocese of Greensburg that only voter guides published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, or the Diocese of Greensburg may be distributed in parishes and other diocesan institutions.  This is for reasons of both U.S. civil law and the Church’s canon law.  While Catholics are strongly encouraged to be engaged in the political process by being informed on the issues of the day and by voting regularly, the Church does not endorse candidates for public office.  It is also totally permissible to actively campaign for candidates of your choice, but not on Church property.  No dissemination of political materials or active politicking on parish property is permitted, including the leafleting of cars.  Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to police our parking lots or adjacent streets to prevent leafleting so if you do find or have already found such literature—during election season or any other time of year—when you come out of Mass, please know that this activity was done without permission and should not in any way be seen as the diocese, this parish, or yours truly endorsing the candidacy of any politician or the platform of any political party.  I might also add that our neighbors who park on the streets surrounding Holy Family and who are not our parishioners do not appreciate their cars being leafletted.  I ask all parishioners to please be respectful of this policy. If anyone would like more explanation or clarifications of diocesan policy, please contact me.