𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐧 – 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑

I would like to welcome Bishop Douglas Lucia to our St. Stephen-St. Patrick Parish Family and to the Mission of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. It truly is a pleasure and a joy to have you here with us this Sunday. It is wonderful to celebrate Sunday Mass with the Shepherd of our Diocese.

This weekend’s Gospel Reading has Our Lord Jesus telling us that the most important commandment is to “love the Lord God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves.” This commandment is one that we are all familiar with and hear often. This is also a challenging commandment. Our Lord is telling us that He wants us to be “all in” in our discipleship. He does not want half-hearted disciples, but ones that are committed to loving God and showing that love by loving our neighbor. Let us ask the Lord for the grace to always show our love for God by the way we love our neighbor as ourselves.

This Wednesday is the Feast of All Saints and a Holy Day of Obligation. Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday evening at 6:00 PM at St. Patrick’s Church. I would like to invite everyone to this special celebration as we recall and celebrate all the wonders that God has done through His People in Salvation History.

This Thursday is All Souls’ Day. It is a day when we remember and pray for all those who have died in our families and in our parish family. Mass will be celebrated at 8:00A M at St. Patrick’s Church.

This Friday Deacon Tony will lead a Holy Hour at 6:00 PM at St. Stephen’s Church. During this Holy Hour there will also be the Annual Memorial Service when we pray for all those who have died in the past year in our parish. This promises to be a special time of prayer for our parish family.

Next Sunday John Mihalko, a candidate for the Deaconate from our parish, will receive the Ministry of Acolyte and Lector at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Syracuse. This is another important step in John’s journey toward Deaconate Ordination in May. Please keep John and his family in your prayers during this exciting time. HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

𝑭𝒓. 𝑱𝒊𝒎