October is my favorite month of the year. When I was younger it marked the end of allergy season. Today I enjoy October because of the wonders God has given us in the beauty of the changing of the seasons.
October is also the month when we celebrate the lives of some very special and important saints, starting with Saint Therese of the Child Jesus on the 1st, Saint Francis of Assisi on the 4th, Saint Teresa of Avila on the 15th, Saint Ignatius of Antioch on the 17th, Saints John de Brebeuf and Isaac Jogues (the North American Martyrs) on the 19th, and Saints Simon and Jude on the 28th.
These Saints, and so many others are named saints, they are in the list of Saints (with a capital S) that the Church calls the Canon of Saints — they have been canonized — added to the official list of saints.
On November 1st we celebrate another feast — All Saints Day — in which we mark the lives of all those who are experiencing the fullness of God’s life and love in heaven, but are not on the official, canonical list. This is the topic for our next Generations of Faith learning session and celebration.
The celebration will be on Friday, November 1st at 7:00 PM. We will be incorporating what has become a tradition at Saint Benedict — a special Mass to commemorate the members of our parish who have gone to the Lord in the last year. We have traditionally invited their families and friends to join us in this Mass. This year, we will do this in a very special way — it will be a celebration of All Saints Day that specially marks the lives of these loved ones of our parish.
While I will not reveal in advance all that we have planned, I will tell you this — Deacon Bill will be preaching at this service. It may be the first time he has been invited to preach on this Holy Day, and I am grateful to him for accepting. His homily will help to make this a very special celebration.
Our learning session for All Saints Day will be on Sunday, October 22. Once again it will take place following the 8:00 am Mass—starting with breakfast— and conclude in time to attend the 11:30 am Mass that morning. Please note — it will not be possible to attend the 10:00 am Mass on that day and participate in the learning session.
As you know I was pretty overwhelmed by the response to our first learning session. If you attended, you know why — we had 256 people present for a session that helps us to continue to grow in our faith. If you did not attend in September, please consider joining us on Sunday, October 22. Generations of Faith is open to all. If you are already registered — just come. If you have not been before, please stop to see Matt Smith in the church vestibule after any Mass to let us know you will be coming. (We don’t want to run out of food!) Again, there is no charge for Generations of Faith. The most you will find is a free will offering container to help us defray the cost of breakfast and the materials we need to make the learning sessions effective.