All Saints Day on Saturday! The great feast of All Saints falls on Saturday this year. Because of that, the obligation to attend Mass under pain of sin has been lifted. But the day itself is not less holy, since the holiness comes from God, not from the obligatory celebration.
We will have a Vigil Mass on Saturday October 31 at 6pm in Latin, and Masses on Saturday Nov 1 at 7:30, 9, and 10:30am.
Dear Folks,
Mass intentions for 2026! Very important announcement:
The book for Mass intentions will be opened on Tuesday, November 18th when the office opens at 8:30am. This is a slight change from the usual date, partly because the Faith Direct confusion has generated copious work for staff, but also because Mondays are crazy busy at the front desk, and Tuesdays seem much more opportune.
Therefore, exercising my full authority as pastor, I solemnly declare that henceforth and every year, the Mass Intention Book will be opened on a Tuesday in November and that I reserve the right for staff and myself to pick and announce the date that is opportune.
Let it be thus, I have spoken, and the law is promulgated! Woohoo! Wow, that was fun to use my full authority! Ok, yes that is written with a wink and a smile, but nonetheless it may have helped you to pay attention.
Catie Espiritu, our Assistant Youth Minister has been blessed with a second child who is due to burst forth into the world in January! Catie has discerned that the Lord is calling her to full-time motherhood and will thus be stepping down from her position on parish staff. We wish her well, with health and holiness for her children and marriage! We will miss her greatly, but are comforted by the fact that she most certainly remain at St. Mary’s and volunteer as she is able. We will begin to search for someone to fill this staff position shortly.
All Saints Day on Saturday! The great feast of All Saints falls on Saturday this year. Because of that, the obligation to attend Mass under pain of sin has been lifted. But the day itself is not less holy, since the holiness comes from God, not from the obligatory celebration. Since so many Catholics are duty focused, I am aware that fewer will attend Mass. To facilitate those who still wish to pray Holy Mass in honor of their friends and relatives in heaven, the schedule for the feast day is included:
Oct 31: 6pm Latin
Nov 1: 7:30am, 9am, 10:30am
pax,
Father John Mosimann
The book to request Mass intentions for calendar year 2026 will open on November 18.
Dear Folks,
Is your car a mess? Or your office? Or your inbox?
My car is actually pretty clean inside, while the outside is a little dirty. But I know lots of folks struggle with keeping a car interior clean, especially if they have children! I remember years ago my nephew being very concerned because he got chocolate all over the seats in my car. I laughed and said, “that is the price of being an uncle. Sometimes the chocolate is all over.”
But my office? That is another story! Yikes, stacks of paper, all representing work or marriage prep or annulments or meeting requests or sales pitches and on and on and on.
And email inboxes? How many people just give up on trying to empty them out. My dad once asked for help clearing out the 27,000 emails out of his inbox. We just made him a new gmail account instead.
Ok… but what possible ‘Jesus connection’ am I thinking?
When you clean out your car/office/inbox, you suddenly become much more aware of previously unnoticed threats to re-cluttering your life. A candy wrapper in the car, an unreturned message on the desk, or email spam coming in.
The same thing can happen with our souls, especially if we haven’t been to confession in ages. It is such an amazing experience as a priest to help people to clear out their souls of the debris and clutter of sin. Truly, as a priest, I rank it a privilege second only to transubstantiating bread and wine into Jesus.
Once we clear out the debris that was intimidating us from returning to Jesus, we become much more sensitive to maintaining the spiritual health and cleanliness of our souls. I often tell folks who return from many years away from the sacrament, “don’t be surprised if you start to remember and recall smaller sins. Just bring themconfidently to your next confession. Jesus will always welcome you home.”
pax,
Father John Mosimann
