From the Pastor’s Desk
By Fr. Terry Kerner
I want to call everyone’s attention to the display in the Parish Center Heritage Corridor. As we approach the Feast of All Saints, we thought it appropriate to highlight the lives of twenty eight saints whose lives have inspired holiness in others. The Corridor’s sixty-foot glass depiction of God’s creation of the world was originally commissioned in the Seventies for St. Martha Church. It is an important part of our parish history and heritage. A short description of the window will be available along with the stories of the saints honored in the hallway. The display of the saints will be available for viewing this weekend during all the “church hours”. The Walk with the Saints is just part of our parish’s recognition of the anniversary of St. Kateri’s canonization. Please take the time to visit Heritage Corridor and be impressed!
The Gift Shop of course will be open and offering reduced prices on many items this weekend. The sale will be offering some vintage religious articles that inspire memories of devotions generations before us celebrated — all a part of our religious heritage. A visit to the Gift Shop might be a head start on some Christmas shopping.
Next Sunday, October 31 st, we will remember at the 11:00 Mass all the deceased buried from St. Kateri parish since last All Souls Day. This year since All Saints falls on Monday it is not a holy day of obligation, however we will celebrate at 5:30 pm the liturgy the feast. Tuesday is of course the feast of All Souls and Mass will be celebrated at the usual time following devotions at 6:30 pm. Tuesday is also Election Day and St. Kateri is a voting site for two precincts and is always busy with voters. The topsy turvy schedule of liturgies and feast days this year maybe only reflects the crazy times we are in. This too will pass.
Again, I want to say how much I appreciate all the prayerful support you are offering in my recuperation. I have completed the nine-week antibiotic regimen and now await the reading of two blood cultures to determine the elimination of the sepsis. One echogram will then evaluate my heart for any damage and hopefully we can move on from there. It has been a long journey and I truly appreciate you spiritually travelling with me down the path.
Have an enjoyable Autumn weekend.
The Deacon is “Speakin”
By Rev. Mr. Tom Leonard
A question was recently posed to me. “What impact has the diaconate had on your marriage?” Actually, not much as explained below. The greatest challenge the diaconate poses to my marriage involves scheduling.
Shortly after Christine and I were married, we took care of some very important “business”. Under the auspices of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, we received the singular grace of recommitting our lives to the “Lordship of Jesus Christ” to lead, guide and save us. In this regard, we committed ourselves to pray daily and to the sacramental life, to live according to the teachings of the Catholic Church, and to serve the Church in some capacity.
With that fundamental commitment to Christ in place (for the past 45 years), our marriage, though pretty rocky in the beginning, benefitted much from the teaching we received, early on, through the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and certain documents of the Church, which we were exposed to. Probably the singular discipline that helped Christine and I to grow as a married couple was our agreement not to use artificial means of birth control. This was difficult because of the lively dynamics of hormones and my selfish, self-centered temperament.
But the good news was that it forced us to talk to one another about why we embraced this discipline and helped us to really get to know one another’s heart. Too, it taught us a deeper love and respect for the other as persons, and of how to serve and “lay down our lives” for the other. While hardly “saints”, Christine and I still remind one another how the other is our “purgative” road to heaven.
Back to scheduling. Christine knew that a Deacon’s life, in many respects, was not his own. Fortunately, Father Terry schedules the known Mass and event schedule two or three months in advance, and, when possible, I am not scheduled the fourth weekend of every month, which is dedicated to family-time and Mass attendance off-site. Christine and my challenge is to preserve our time together with the five children and grand-children despite the regular and unexpected ministry events that “pop-up” in the evenings and on weekends after Mass. But we’d have it no other way! Glory to God!!
