Happy “All Hallows’ Eve!”

My Dear Parishioners,

Happy “All Hallows’ Eve!” While our young people enjoy the celebration of dressing in costume and collecting candy, it is good to remind them that part of the Christian roots of this secular holiday involved our belief in the saints in heaven praying for us. All Saints Day (Nov. 1^st) is also known as All Hallows Day. The day before All Saints is known as All Hallows’ Eve which is where we get the word Halloween from. The day after All Saints, Nov. 2^nd, is All Souls Day. It is the day that we set aside to pray for all those souls that have experienced bodily death and are not yet united with God in heaven. We pray for the healing and purification of their souls so that they will be united with God. These holy days are good reminders that our Church (the Communion of Saints) is much bigger than just the here and now.

This year, because All Saints Day is on Tuesday and it is a Holy Day of Obligation our Mass schedule is: Vigil Mass on Monday Oct. 31^st at 5:30 p.m., Masses on Tuesday are at 8:00 and 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. On Wednesday, All Souls Day, we will have Mass at 8:00 a.m. Of course we will remember and pray for all those who have been buried from St. Joseph parish since its founding and especially those we lost over this past year. Feel free to add the names of your deceased loved ones to our St. Joseph Book of the Dead. Your All Souls envelopes with your prayer intentions will be on the altar throughout the month of November.

Once again a special thank you for all those who helped with our closing out of the centennial year of St. Joseph parish. We had an awesome 40 Hours experience from Fr. Pio Mandato. Our Anniversary Banquet was a beautiful affair and our closing Mass with Archbishop Perez was truly magnificent.

Thanks to all those on the Anniversary Committee. They did a great job throughout the year. In particular I want to recognize Mrs. Rita Roley and her team who organized the various socials and other things. I also want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Bill and Rosemary Hronchak who worked so hard on compiling our parish history, and stories, and photographs. By the way if you were not able to see these items at the banquet they are on display in Classroom 18, which was beautifully renovated for the Anniversary. I also want to thank and recognize our tremendous choir led by Maria Lennon. They did an outstanding job providing our Anniversary liturgies with inspiring, uplifting and truly beautiful music throughout the yearlong celebration.

If you would like to have a commemorative 100^th Anniversary mug you can purchase them at the rectory or after the Sunday Masses (they make great Christmas presents). Our personal St. Joseph Christmas cards can be purchased as well.

As you are doing your Christmas shopping I want to remind you to consider an opportunity that helps St. Joseph Parish. Amazon Smile is a way that people who usually buy things on Amazon can have a portion of the purchase price contributed to institutions that qualify as a 501c3, which our parish does. It costs the customer nothing and helps out the parish. AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon with the same products, prices, and shopping features as Amazon.com. The difference is that when you shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the charitable organization of your choice. If you are an Amazon Prime member you can also use AmazonSmile. Go to www.smile.amazon.com. Sign up for an Amazon Smile account. To select your charity search for St. Joseph Parish, Warrington. Please note, use the word Parish, not Church.

God Bless you,
Fr. Bordonaro