Dear Parishioners,

This weekend we celebrate the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. What kind of attitude do we bring with us to Mass each weekend? Do we feel proud of ourselves for what we have accomplished this week? Or do we fell inadequate, sorry for all the times we’ve failed, aware of our human weaknesses. As we celebrate the Eucharist together, may we examine our con- sciences and recognize our need for God’s mercy.

On Friday of this week, we will celebrate All Saints Day, a Holyday of Obligation. We are all called to be disciples. Jesus asks us to put aside worthy ambition and reward and follow Him. He challenges us to live out our faith and building the Kingdom of God. On Friday of this week we will celebrate those men and women who truly became disciples of the Lord. We will honor them for their faithfulness and heroic work. We will pray to them to intercede for us … and we will look to them as models as we try to more fully live out the call to be disciples our- selves.

Next weekend we will celebrate the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. After celebrat- ing All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day we continue to remember those who have gone before us “marked with the sign of faith.” For God, no one is lost, no one is dead. All are alive in God. Let us find comfort in knowing that our God of life is stronger than death as we journey with Zacchaeus when Jesus tells us that he “came to seek and save what was lost”.

All Saints and All Souls: As already mentioned Friday, November 1, All Saints’ Day, is a Holyday of Obligation. We will have Masses at 6:30 A.M., 8:15 A.M., 12:10 P.M., and 7:00 P.M. The 7:00 P.M. Mass this year will also be the remembrance of all those parishioners who have died during the past year. If you have come in the past to the evening Mass normally held on All Souls Night, November 2, you know how moving that ceremony is. Since November 2 is a Saturday, and the evening Mass is that of the Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, we decided to have the All Souls Commemoration at the 7:00 P.M. Mass on November 1st. There is a nice reception planned for after the Mass primarily for the families, but also for other members of the parish. On All Souls’ Day, Saturday, November 2, 2019, we will have a Mass at 8:00 A.M. for All the Faithful Departed. May we remember our beloved dead and accompany them with our prayers.

“The October Count”: Each year in the Archdiocese, and throughout many dioceses in the United States, there is an “October count,” for three weeks (or longer for some dioceses) of attendance at Mass. Thanks to the ushers who did the count these past three weeks. The total of people who attended the fifteen Masses here the first three weekends of October was 3062, that is an average of 1021 per weekend (1046, October 5 and 6; 950, October 12 and 13; 1066, October 19 and 20). That is down 18 people from the average last year which was 1039 per weekend. One can’t always base a parish’s vitality on the attendance at Holy Mass, but it is clearly down (over 450 per weekend) from the 1478 average in 1012, the first year Msgr. Brennell was pastor here, after the death of Msgr. Doerhoff the previous June. The Pastoral Council will be studying these results and see what should be done, if anything, other than prayer and outreach.

Faith Enrichment sessions continue today, Sunday October 27, after the 9:30 A.M. Mass in the Cry Room/Adoration Chapel. Deacon Dane Westhoff will lead the discussion today. The next session will be on Sunday, November 10th.

The Renovation / new elevator programs are moving along. Hopefully you will take time to visit the hall, which is coming along rather well, after the morning 9:30 and 11:30 A.M. Masses today (Sunday). We had a MAJOR glitch this past week when the company that was going to produce the moveable partitions went out of business. Happily our “middle man,” Husmann and Associates, went to bat for us and was able to place an order with another vendor. There will be a six week (or so) delay for the partitions to be made (again, a special order), but we are back on track and will be moving along. This will not hinder our using the hall or meeting room after November 1. The elevator work is progressing and should still be available by mid- December, pending final inspection by the City of Creve Coeur and the Creve Coeur Fire Protec- tion District. The new entrance to the “choir” entrance (Northwest corner) should begin work in early November. While that door will not be available during the week, it will be o.k. to use on the weekends. That work will only take a couple of weeks. MEANWHILE, we are still “on track,” to host the reception after the 7:00 P.M. Mass on All Saints Evening, coffee and donuts on November 3, and a pancake breakfast on November 10, in the new hall, again, pending approval by the City and Fire Protection District.

If you have any questions, and perhaps there are still some, please e-mail Ray Alonzo at [email protected].

Have a good week! Have a very safe Halloween. See you in Church on Friday, All Saints’ Day.

Faithfully yours,

Fr Joe Weber