The Church Triumphant and the Church Purgative

Dear Parish Family,

In addition to the Church on earth (the Pilgrim Church), the Church also consists of those who have gone before us who are in Heaven (the Church Triumphant) and those who have gone before us who will be in Heaven but are not yet there, those Holy Souls in Purgatory (the Church Purgative).  All three are connected by Baptism and all are called to live in the fullness of the Kingdom of our God.  November 1 we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints, not just those Saints who are officially recognized as Saints by the Church, but the uncountable number of others who have achieved the beatific Vision, Heaven, and are celebrating the fullness of life with God, the Virgin Mary and all the angels. November 2 we commemorate All Souls Day, the day we specifically pray for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory.  There is a great deal of confusion about Purgatory; this is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us.  “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so to as achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.  The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory at the Councils of Florence and Trent, The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Sacred Scripture; especially 1 Maccabees 12:46, 1 Corinthian’s 3:15, 1 Peter 1:7.(CCC 1030 – 1031 ff).  We rejoice with those who have gone before us in faith, we pray for those in Purgatory, offer up good words and have Mass celebrated for them.  We acknowledge our brothers and sisters in Heaven and thank them for their intercession of our behalf before the throne of God.

God Bless, Fr. Dan

A statement of the Catholic Bishops of New York State.

Proposal 1: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

THANK YOU to Ron and Mike on the EXCEPTIONAL job they did in replacing the old ramp leading up to the Parish Hall; check it out if you have not already!

Honey invites your pet to come and get a blessing Sunday, October 6^th at 12:45pm in the parking lot of church!

All animals, big and small are welcome, but please have your pet either leashed or caged for safety reasons.

Holy Hour at 1:00pm in the Church

Eucharistic Adoration & Benediction

In Observance of the Dignity and

Sacredness of All Human Life

This past week I was on retreat, and while praying for the parish it came to me that many are suffering from cancer.  Did you know that we have a Saint to whom we can pray specifically for intercession for cancer patients?  He is St. Peregrine, and here is his story.

The Rebel Who Became a Saint

I found a statue of St. Peregrine which I purchased and blessed along with a book of Catholic Novenas with the novena in honor of St. Peregrine in it.  If any one or any family would like to take the statue and Novena to their home and pray that novena for themselves, a loved one or a friend; please contact the rectory.  All that I ask is that you bring the statue and novena back to the rectory after your nine days so that others might have the opportunity to take part in this prayer.

God Bless, Fr. Dan

Thank you to all who came to the parish picnic. Even though it rained, hopefully everyone had a good time and plenty of good food to eat (especially the LARGE cookies). It is always good when our parish family can come together for fellowship and socializing. A special thank you to the Grabowski’s for the great food and drinks!!

Christian Love

Dear Parish Family,
The three Theological virtues are Faith, Hope and Love; according to St. Paul, Love is the greatest and the foundation upon which the Christian Life is based. In Corinthians, Paul writes: “Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13: 1-13)
This virtue is the very essence of God, as God is described as Love. This is not the love of the world: it is something very different. The love of God is freeing and sets free; it is forgiving and creative. However, it is not the same as liking. Liking is an emotion, based on attraction, or similar interests and goals. The Love of God is a decision based on ‘grace’; to look beyond any external, or changing reality, or deed that a person has done to find a unique child of God, created in the Divine Image and redeemed by the Blood of Christ. This Love reminds us that we are to love as we have been loved by God: freely, honestly, without any condition or reservation. God Bless, Fr. Dan

The Power of Prayer

Dear Parish Family,
Each weekend at Mass in the prayers of the faithful we remember the prayers in our ‘Book of Intentions,’ and ‘Memorial Book’ and last week prayer cards for the sick were available. You may have noticed in front of the altar a box marked: “prayer intentions”; these are from the weekend of the Eucharistic Miracle presentation and the Blessed Carlos Acutis exhibit. I plan to leave this box in front of the altar until the beginning of Advent so that our parishioners (in fact anyone who wishes) may write a prayer intention and place it in the box.:. There is a group who gather every Thursday to pray the Rosary, and every First Friday people have the opportunity to spend an hour with the Lord in adoration. Our prayers aren’t simply what we do by rote, we do believe in the power of prayer and that as Jesus tells us: “If two or three of agree on earth to pray for anything it will be granted to you by My Father in Heaven.” Of course prayer is not magic, nor are our prayers magic incantations, yes, our heavenly Father answers our prayers, but not always in the way that we want. Sometimes, like any good parent, the answer must be ‘no’ for our own spiritual and even physical good. The most powerful prayer is the Eucharist, where we join with our Eucharistic Lord in offering up all to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit. Someone once said: “Act like everything depends on you; pray because everything depends on God.” There is no vacation from prayer.
God Bless: Fr. Dan