30th Sunday of Ordinary Time
My Dear Friends in Christ,
We continue with the same theme as last week: persistence in prayer. In today’s parable, Jesus puts two persons side by side: the Pharisee who went to the temple to inform God about his good deeds and the tax collector who went to the temple to pray for God’s mercy.
Are we like the tax collector who was aware of our sinfulness? Or like the Pharisee do we struggle with judging the hearts of others? God sees the disposition of our hearts and judges us accordingly. Unlike the Pharisee, the tax collector’s prayer was heard by God and he went home justified. His sincerity and humility brought him God’s grace and blessings. Is it possible we need an attitude check? Let us remember the words of today’s gospel, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Let us all pray for the grace of humility.
It was wonderful to see so many of you at the Requiem Concert for the Living last Sunday. Thank you to all who attended the Requiem Concert presented by Tony Zsigray and our Epiphany of the Lord Choir. I also thank the musicians, volunteers, and Sacred Heart Altar Rosary Society for assisting in this event. This was a great fundraiser to take care of our aging organ at our St. Stephen campus. With your generous donations we raised $11,879.00. Our expenses were $2,450.00 giving us a net profit of $9,429.00. Thank you so much for your attendance and your generosity.
November 1, All Saints Day, is a Holy Day of Obligation. Please plan to attend Mass on Friday, Nov.1 at 8:30 am at Sacred Heart or 7 pm at St. Thomas Aquinas. Cardinal Stritch High School and Academy has Mass at 9:30 am on Fri. Nov. 1 if you wish to attend Mass with the students, many of whom belong to our parish.
During November, there are additional ways in which we honor our beloved dead. Please take note of the following:
- All Soul’s Day Mass will take place Sat. Nov. 3 at 8:30 am at St. Stephen
- Next weekend (Nov. 2-3), the names of all those in our parish who died in the last year will be read each of the Masses.
- There is a book in the back of each of our churches. You may write the names of the beloved dead in your life in these books which will be presented during the offertory.
Congratulations to Aniyah Ann Johnson who was baptized last weekend. Welcome to the Catholic Church, little one!
Please keep me in your prayers and be assured you are always in mine.
It is a joy and blessing to serve you as your pastor,
Father Gilbert Mascarenhas SAC