Bob Jensen

During the month of November we traditionally remember our faithful departed who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. This Sunday marks the Solemnity of All Saints. These are the canonized and uncanonized who continually praise our eternal God around the throne of heaven. On November 2^nd we celebrate All Souls’ Day. We pray for our deceased loved ones that their transition between this life on earth and their life in the fullness of the Kingdom goes well. When we stand before God at the end of our earthly life we are overcome by the unconditional love that God has for us. We are aware of the sin that still clings to us. God purges us of that sin so that we may enjoy the fullness of that love. This is known as purgatory. We will have a special mass on Monday at 9 am where all the names of those who have died in our parish the past year and those for whom we have prayed in the Prayers of the Faithful will be read aloud. We will also have the Book of the Names of the Dead placed near the baptismal font. For those who can’t make it to Mass you may want to make a list of all your faithful departed and pray for them as you participate in our live-streamed mass. May our gracious God take all our loved ones to himself.

 

Congratulations to the twenty one high school students and three adults who are to be confirmed this Monday evening by Bishop Daniel Mueggenborg here at St. John’s.  Because of the pandemic, the celebration of this sacrament was moved from May to this particular time.  May our candidates be open to the wondrous gifts of the Holy Spirit and may we too.  They are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and wonder in God’s presence.  These gifts are especially necessary in this most difficult and chaotic time.  O Lord, bless our young people and give them all that is essential to them living out your love in their lives.  May we support them in every way.

We begin as a parish community our  stewardship of treasure campaign. As I signed more than a thousand letters inviting you to be a part of this pledge campaign I prayed for you and your family in this era of Covid 19. It has been a difficult, confusing time. I couldn’t help but be gratified at how many of you give so generously to our parish community. I also invite those for whom we have no record for giving to either sign up for envelopes or Faith Direct which is an electronic fund transfer service. In giving of your income in a prepared proportionate and sacrificial way you are supporting some eighty parish ministries. Thank you for your genericity. May the Lord bless you in every way.

 

Here’s a sample of my fall reading list: All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny; Sontag by Benjamin Moser; the eleventh and twelfth books of The Wheel of Time series, Dead Souls by Nicolai Gogol; My Dog Tulip by J.R. Ackerley; Goldfinger by Ian Fleming; The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie; Whose Body? By Dorothy Sayers; Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens; As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, and Wayfarers in the Cosmos by Fr. George Coyne and Alessandro Omizzola.

 

With the fifth anniversary of the publication of Laudato Si, Pope Francis’ pastoral letter on ecology, we celebrate the Season of Creation.  This is an opportunity for us to reflect on how we might as individuals and as a community mitigate the harmful effects of global warming on our environment.  This Sunday is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi who in his beautiful Canticle of the Sun offered a paean to the glories of God’s creation.  As a parish we are taking steps to recycle paper and aluminum products and cutting down on waste.   We are also encouraging staff to telecommute part-time when possible (a side-benefit of COVID-19!).  I have a hope that we might install some solar panels on one of our buildings as a signal that we are a green community.  We are hoping to put together a Creation Care Team.  If you are interested in joining please call Andrea Mendoza, our pastoral assistant for Social Outreach and Advocacy.  Her office number can be found in our bulletin and on our website.

 

As we return indoors to celebrate Mass on October 3^rd and 4^th you will notice a few things are different.  The main change is that we have installed kneelers to all the chairs.  Archbishop Etienne has asked all parishioners to kneel during the period of communion as well as during the Eucharistic prayers.  I believe that we are the only parish in the archdiocese that does not have kneelers.  We will kneel after the Holy, holy, holy…until the Great Amen before the Lord’s Prayer.  We will then kneel after the Lamb of God.  During this time of COVID 19 we will stand together at our places until we receive communion and then we may either kneel or be seated.  To kneel one may either kneel on the floor in front of one’s seat or come around behind one’s chair and use the kneelers.  Thanks for your patience as we begin this practice in our church