It has been a tumultuous few months for me with the transfer, packing up in Trafford and unpacking in Latrobe, settling into a new assignment, and now a very busy month of October in terms of funerals, so I am taking a little time away this week to enjoy a fall foliage road trip. Fr. John will be holding down the fort sacramentally this week until I return on Friday night. Keep me in your prayers for safe travels and I’ll see you next weekend.
The Solemnity of All Saints, a holy day of obligation, is coming up next week. After consulting with Fater John, we have put together a Mass schedule for the partner parishes that may be a little bit different but offers ample opportunities to attend Mass:
Holy Family St. John
Tuesday, Oct. 31st 6:00PM Wednesday, Nov. 1st 8:00AM, 6:00PM
Wednesday, Nov. 1st 9:00AM, 12:10PM, &
7:00PM (Latin Mass)
Please note while the 9AM Mass at Holy Family may be understood by some to be a “School Mass”, everyone is welcome to attend. The students from CDT will be attending that Mass and students and school staff will be ministering but it is a parish Mass. We will be tracking Mass attendance for this and upcoming holydays and maybe experimenting with the schedule so we can do our best to meet the needs of both partner parishes.
This weekend the Church around the world observes World Mission Sunday. Pope Francis reminds us“[t]he Church is missionary by nature; otherwise, she would no longer be the Church of Christ, but one group among many others that soon end up serving their purpose and passing away.” The Pope continues to reflect about our Christian identity, and insists that part of our responsibility as Christians is to “carry out our mission” in a world “marked by confusion, disappointment, and frustration.” The Holy Father sees the celebration of World Mission Sunday as “a good opportunity for enabling the missionary heart of the Christian communities to join in prayer, testimony of life and communion of goods, in responding to the vast and pressing needs of evangelization." Sunday’s collection supports missionaries in more than 1,100 mission dependent dioceses, through whose work and witness to Christ, the poor receive help and experience God’s love and mercy, His hope and peace.
With Election Day rapidly approaching, 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 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 political party. I might also add that our neighbors who park on the streets surrounding the church 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.