Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus our Lord,
As always, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our Holy Family families, individuals, friends, and supporters who continue to show their constant support with great dedication, care and love for our church and community. Thank you to all council members, groups and individuals who keep searching for new ways to support the church. This is a way of Evangelization and you are doing it. Thank you. Evangelization is practiced in every activity, in every event, even in the annual Fall Festival that was held on Saturday September 7. The food was delicious. The raffle was a success. Our goal was to attract and pull as many people as possible back to our community, our faith and our heritage. Thank you to all of those dedicated, energetic, committed, and determined volunteers, who are loyal, faithful, kind, ready to serve and assist, from generation to generation for their hard work and constant effort for the sake of the church.
The Faith Formation program will take place Wednesday evenings beginning in mid-October. Thank you to Gary Schwery for his many years of dedication service as our Faith Formation leader. He decided to take a much deserved rest from teaching and is turning the reins over to Nikki Abbott and possibly one other parent. Parents who have children age 6 to 12, and have no Faith Formation or religion classes at their schools, should contact the church office to enroll their children and ensure they participate in the weekly classes. This, too, is an essential part of evangelization. The children’s participation will form the generation of the future for the families and for the church. In the same way, let us make the Sunday Divine Liturgy a priority in our Christian life and faith, where all generations unite around the Lord Jesus.
We thank everyone who continue to support those suffering in Lebanon. The U.S. office of Caritas Lebanon sends donations on a regular basis from the Eparchy in Saint Louis to Beirut where Caritas is dealing with the direct distribution channels for the displaced families in the areas affected, 90% of whom are Christian Maronites.
Just to mention that this month of October, the month of the Holy Rosary, begins with two principle feasts. Saint Therese of Lisieux, patroness of the converted atheists, through constant daily prayers and sacrifice, and Saint Francis of Assisi, who changed the face of the Church and focused on the assistance of the poor, the hungry and the needy and inspired thousands of vocations in the Church throughout the last nine centuries.
The month of October will end with the annual Halloween event. Just to clarify: Halloween originally had Catholic roots and meanings. It is the Eve of the All Saints Solemnity. The meaning of Halloween itself means the feast of the Hallows or the Saints. But in some Western European cultures, the use of somewhat scary masks was to cast out and scare demons and evil spirits. Today Catholic Halloween practices include but are not limited to, making the children and youth wear Saints and angels costumes while celebrating Halloween and the Feast of All Saints. May their prayers be with us.
Concluding my letter, I wish you and your families a great month of October, which is a month dedicated to the Holy Rosary.
Yours in Christ Jesus,
Father Emmanuel Nakhlé-Ghorr, Pastor
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