From the Pastor's Desk
Monday is Labor Day, and it is more than the unofficial end of summer. The day recalls and celebrates the grains that labor achieved for workers over the years. The things that we take for granted in the work place trace their roots back to the labor movement. On Labor Day, please remember what we are celebrating and thank those who gained respect, rights, benefits, a safe workplace and the 40-hour-work week for all of us. Labor continues to be a voice for many workers today.
On Labor Day, our one Mass will be at 9:00 am. School opens this week. Thurssday for our parish school and various days for other schools. Please keep students, teachers and families in your prayers as a new school year begins. We pray that all will grow in faith, the subjects being presented, and the appreciation of the blessings God has given and a growing awareness of how to use them.
The Sacrament of Confirmation completes our initiation into our Catholic Church and, Confirmed in the faith, we become full members. Confirmation gifts us with the Spirit of Jesus to guide and strengthen us in our life in Christ. To be a sponsor for Confirmation or Baptism, a person has to be a Confirmed, practicing Catholic. The idea being, to sponsor someone in the faith, we need to be a full member and living it. To be married in the Church, Catholics should be Confirmed.
Sometimes for a variety of reasons and circumstances, people don’t receive Confirmation. Each year we offer a series of classes for adults (out of high school) who would like to be Confirmed. Confirmation will be celebrated here on Sunday, December 7th, at the 12:00 noon Mass by Bishop Hubbard. We will have sessions each Thursday at 7:00 pm, beginning October 2nd in the Forman Room in the Church Hall. If you would like to be Confirmed, or know someone who would, please call the rectory to register, or sign the tab below and put it in the collection basket today or next week.
Our Catholic Faith is a precious gift that is the foundation of all we do in life. Many people are seeking this gift and often they find it through the example and invitation of others.
Each year we offer an information night for all those who may be interested in becoming members of our Catholic Church. It will be held on Wednesday, October 1st at 7:00 pm in the Forman Room in the Church Hall. If you know someone who you think is interested, please invite them and offer to come with them. That night we will explain the process for becoming a member of the Catholic Church. If you have any questions, please call Father Tom Lawless or myself about it before or after Mass.
Please look over our new religious education schedule for grades K-6. It has been moved to Sunday morning. All the details are on the back page of this bulletin under Faith Formation for Youth. P)lease spread the word of these three programs to anyone you think may be interested. Your invitation and interest are often what brings people to these programs.
On the weekend of Sept 6th and 7th, after all the Masses, everyone is invited to come over to the school to see our new three-year old pre-school room. It is a beautiful addition to the school and I think you would enjoy seeing it and be very proud of it. Take five minutes after Mass and walk over; it is on the first floor and there are no stairs between here and there.