Beloved brother and sisters,
 
The parish finance council prepares the annual financial report with support from Stephen Desjardins, the parish business administrator. The fiscal year ended in June 2022, and in the spirit of transparency, I requested that the report be prepared and published for you to read. I am thankful for your generous giving and continue to count on you to give generously so the parish can maintain a buoyant financial standing. Please take a few minutes to read the bulletin insert and review the 2021-2022 financial numbers.
 
This year All Saints Day, Tuesday, November 1st is a Holy Day of Obligation. The day is dedicated to the saints of the Church, that is, all those who have attained heaven. I will be celebrating Mass at 7:00am in the Historic Church and 7:00pm in the Church.
 
All Souls’ Day, November 2nd, I will celebrate our annual Mass of Remembrance at 6:00pm in the Church. During this liturgy, all our faithful departed will be honored, especially those parishioners we have lost this year. Everyone is welcome to celebrate this special Mass for our loved one.
 
Yours always in prayer,
 
​Fr. Bernard, OP
 

                                                      WORLD MISSION SUNDAY
 
              On this World Mission Sunday, let us embrace the gift of sharing our faith with others
 
                                                                                                                                 
On this World Mission Sunday, we join as a Church to pray for missionaries and those they serve. We pray for their protection, guidance and inspiration. We pray that the gift of faith in Christ our Savior will enliven the souls of more and more people.
 
In the second reading, St. Paul says that he is likely reaching the end of his life, called to martyrdom for his faith in Jesus. “I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well, I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for His appearance” (2 Timothy 4:6-8). Paul, among the greatest of the Church’s early missionaries, wanted Timothy and all who spread the message of salvation to remain steadfast in their task.
 
While many would suffer for their Christian belief in the days and centuries to come, communicating the news of redemption through the Son of God is absolutely necessary. Mission activity is an elemental part of the Church since we are all called to share the love and forgiveness of Christ with every person possible. Saints Paul and Timothy and the other Apostles and disciples knew this, just as we do, two thousand years later. And each of us needs to be willing to do all we can to bring the word of Jesus Crucified and Risen to others. We do this not only through prayer, but also through our example, witness, and support for Missions.
 
For almost a century, the Catholic Church has taken up a collection on World Mission Sunday to assist the work of the missions and missionaries in countries around the globe. While the Church shares the joyful message of God’s mercy, it also assists our neighbors who struggle with material needs. Priests, religious Sisters and Brothers, and laypeople continue to reach out to men, women, and children who do not know Christ or do not yet entrust themselves to His mercy. We must live our faith by sharing our faith. Today – and every day – we need to commit ourselves to follow in the footsteps of our Lord by welcoming others to His gracious and glorious embrace.
 
On this World Mission Sunday, let us witness to our faith through our prayers and financial help to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. Our generosity on this Sunday, combined with what is offered in churches and chapels around the globe, join us to the efforts of missionaries who proclaim the Gospel and serve the poor.
 

 Beloved brothers and sisters,
                                                            The Battle to Pray Always
 
We return to the subject of prayer once again this Sunday. Last week, we reflected on the prayer of thanksgiving as an act of faith. In this Sunday's Gospel, Jesus instructs his disciple on "the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary" (Lk 18: 1). Persistence in prayer is the central message Jesus conveys in the parable of the dishonest judge and the persistent widow. The widow demands justice, but the judge is unwilling to act, but she would not cease demanding to be heard. Finally, her untiring insistence soon wears out the judge, and he yields to her request. In like manner, Jesus calls on us to pray to God day and night without ceasing. Consistency in prayer is a fruit of faith, a trust in a loving God who comes to our help when we call earnestly upon him.

Prayer is central to the Christian life, and the Scripture calls us to the practice of perpetual prayer. Prayer is a continuous conversation of heart and mind with God. But how can we possibly fulfill Jesus' demands to pray without weary? This teaching about praying always is an uphill task that seems impossible to do. Indeed, it is a battle. Prayer is a battle. We can quickly glean the prayer of Moses for Isreal against the incursion of the Amalek in Exodus 17. Here we see that prayer is inserted in a battle scene. Joshua and Isreal "had the better of the fight" against Amalek "as long as Moses kept his hands raised up." It is clear that, like Moses, our hands raised in prayers will get tired. Hence, we have to find a way to keep our hands, and at the same time, our minds and hearts lifted to God in prayer always if we want to win the battles of life.

Do not try to look away or avoid reality; prayer is a battle we must engage in to live a victorious Christian life. Consider Jacob's wrestling with God in Genesis 32 as illustrative of how we ought to attend to prayers; it is a wrestling battle against many obstacles to its effective practice. We will benefit from the following insights on prayer as a battle from the catechism of the catholic church:
" In the battle of prayer, we must face in ourselves and around us erroneous notions of prayer. Some people view prayer as a simple psychological activity, others as an effort of concentration to reach a mental void. Still others reduce prayer to ritual words and postures. Many Christians unconsciously regard prayer as an occupation that is incompatible with all the other things they have to do: they "don't have the time." Those who seek God by prayer are quickly discouraged because they do not know that prayer comes also from the Holy Spirit and not from themselves alone" (2726).

We must identify obstacles to a life of persistent prayers and overcome them. We pray to the Holy Spirit to give us the faith we need to pray as Jesus instructed us, to pray always. We pray to overcome obstacles to this way of praying. "To overcome these obstacles, we must battle to gain humility, trust, and perseverance" (CCC 2728).

Now, let's get into the battle of praying always!

Yours always in prayer,
Fr. Bernard, OP

Beloved brothers and sisters,
                                                                 Stepping out in Faith
 
We continue our faith journey with Jesus from where we stopped last week. In the gospel for last week (Lk 7:5-10), Jesus challenges us to have faith as tiny as a grain of mustard seed to move mountains. We understood faith as a trust in God's love for us and our total surrender to his will. In the Gospel for today, we see such faith in action. In the story of the ten lepers, we see a display of trust in Jesus as a divine person able to heal as they, the ten lepers,  raise their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!" (Lk 17:13 ). They look up to Jesus as God and place their trust in him for healing.
 
The lepers stepped out in faith after Jesus told them to show themselves to the priest who occupied the office of official verification of cleansing. Without seeing an instant healing, they did as they were told, believing the words of Jesus. The lepers were healed on their way, but only one of the ten returned to Jesus to give thanks. The grateful leper is an inspiration in the spiritual life. The act of faith displayed by these lepers is worthy of note and emulation. They decided to show themselves to the priest even before seeing the healing and did not see the healing until they went away from Jesus' presence. They trusted in Jesus' words of authority so much, acting on his instruction and believing they would be healed even before it happened.
 
The lepers' act of faith and the thanksgiving offered by the one who returned to Jesus is worthy of our emulation. We, too, should step out in faith. We should be bold and confident that Jesus would do what we ask for in saving faith and even offer him thanks before we see the answer to our prayers. He alone knows what we need. Jesus alone knows how and when to grant our intentions. We can trust him to choose as he wills, and his will is our peace. We should always give him thanks and praise in all circumstances (see 1 Thess. 5: 18).
 
Thank you, Jesus!
 
Fr. Bernard, OP