ODDS AND ENDS
Congratulations to our Sixth Graders who received their new Bibles at the Bible Mass last weekend. I gave them an assignment to ask var- ious people what their favorite passage from the Bible is. That is a good thing for all of us to think about. Maybe come up with a Top Ten list of your favorites. And if you know a sixth grader, share that with him or her. I gave them their first one: Philippians Chapter 1. It was the reading that my mother chose for her own funeral.
I give thanks to my God at every remembrance of you,
praying always with joy in every prayer I utter for all of you,
because of your partnership for the gospel from the first day until now.
I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.
It is right that I should think this way about all of you, because I hold you in my heart, you who are all partners with me in grace, both in my impris- onment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer: that your love may in- crease ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception,
to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
Actually, I prefer the translation: “to hold on to the things that really matter.”
I would love for you to share with me your favor- ite passages of the Sacred Scripture.
CONVOCATION TIME
Fr. Gene and I will be gone for most of this week at the Priests’ Convocation down at the Lake of the Ozarks. We will have 6:15 Mass on Monday and then Communion Services at 6:15 the rest of the week. (Thanks Deacon Pat!!) If there are any emergencies, you can contact our Parish Secretary Laurie Medley and she will get in touch with me. Hopefully, all will be well.
The Convocation happens every four years (the last on was in 2018 before Covid) and it is a time of prayer, study and community. It is a good thing for us to get together.
Believe it or not, I really don’t see my brother priests as often as I would like and so we make the best of this precious opportunity. Please keep the priests of the Archdiocese in your prayers, especially during this wacky time. (“Wacky” is a technical theological term which means that God is active and vital in our lives and we are going to grow exponentially in grace..)
Because I am going out of town this week, I will be missing one of my ALL-TIME favorite events: our Pet Blessing. Once again, Deacon Pat will be doing the honors. It will be on the parking lot between the school and the rectory at 6;15 pm, Monday, October 3rd, right before PSR classes.
This event usually happens around the feast of St. Francis of Assisi because of his connection to nature and the animals. Even if you do not have a pet, come and participate. It is a real joy to behold.
ALL THINGS NEW
As I mentioned last weekend at all the Masses, I encourage you all to register for the listening sessions that we will be having here at Holy Redeemer. You can access that by way of our web- site. You can also download our Parish’s Work- book with the information and statistics that we are using in order to plan for the future. I would especially ask that you examine the “dot map” of the parishioners of our parish. I think it will be a useful chart as we discuss the future of our area.
Have a great week, I will be back Friday night.
Father Kevin