Fr. Tom’s Letters

Each week Fr. Tom writes a letter to parishioners in our bulletin. Every letter is comprehensive, including current information about the Parish, an explanation of Scripture for that Sunday, and an invitation to become more engaged in the life of the parish.

November 1, 2026

Dear Parishioners,

Today we move the calendar ahead and the clocks fall back. November will give way to chillier temperatures. The daylight hours will grow shorter as the sun sets earlier each day.

We begin November with some important days in the church calendar. November 1, All Saints Day, falls on a Sunday this year and we hear the familiar All Saints Gospel, the Beatitudes. I very much enjoy these days of All Saints and All Souls. I fnd the truth of our faith called the Communion of Saints. As a family person who has lost my four grandparents, two parents, and two brothers, this reality of the Communion of Saints gives me both consolation and hope. In ways that I cannot know in any detail, but can imagine with my faith, All Saints and the Communion of Saints assure me that family members now share together the promise of heaven. We are in no way divided. We are united in God’s love and mercy. I can be most aware and present to the Communion of Saints through the celebration of Mass and sharing the Eucharist. It is in this sacrament and prayer that “heaven meets earth” and we enjoy and share in the eternal peace and joy and unity of which Jesus speaks.

All Saints also affords us the gift of hope; hope that someday I may too share in the gift of heaven and eternal life through the gifts of God’s love and mercy. The loss of loved ones is always painful and their absence is real; yet, at the same time, the promise of our faith holds this precious truth of the Communion of Saints.

On Monday, All Souls continues our prayerful remembrance of all the deceased and faithful departed. The mystery of death and eternal life and purgatory and heaven are experiences and realities about which we profess our faith and yet do not fully grasp and understand. And that is fine; questions we might have are normal and really a sign of faith. We don’t need to be able to answer all the questions. We do not know and that is okay. That is mystery, a very important part of human life and experience. As I prepared for All Souls Day, I read: “The celebration of the Mass has always been the principal means by which the Church fulfills the great responsibility of charity toward the dead. Death cannot break the bonds of the Body of Christ.” The Church and our parish has a special Novena (nine days) of Masses during which we pray for the deceased. If you wish to include your family members and loved ones, you can use the envelopes found near the doors of the church.

BLOOD DRIVE

We are all aware of the need for blood to save lives and for healing. Our Knights of Columbus are sponsoring a blood drive for the parish today, Sunday November 1. The Blood Drive is happening in McCloskey Auditorium from 9:00AM – 1:30PM.

ELECTION DAY

It has been a long campaign and people from both parties have expressed dismay with the tones of campaign ads and attacks on candidate’s character. We are all encouraged to undertake our civic responsibility to vote.We are invited to pray before we vote. As Americans we expect our elections to be fair as we have experienced these past 250 years. We can expect that all will accept the results and that we will have peaceful days; it is the history of our nation to move forward peacefully in the post election days. We trust that will be our experience this year.

Peace be with you.

Fr. Tom

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