Dear Parishioners:
- We celebrate the Feast of ALL SAINTS on this Sunday November 1 (also, the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time). Many thinks that sainthood is a privilege reserved only for the chosen few. In fact, to become a saint is the task of every Christian, and what’s more, we could even say it’s the task of everyone.
Pope St. John Paul II, whose feast we just celebrated last week October 22, reminded us that the heroes and heroines the world offers to young people today are terribly flawed. They leave us so empty. The real “stars” are the Saints who never tried to be regarded as heroes. To believe greatness is attainable, we need successful role models to emulate. There is a desperate need for real heroes and heroines, models and witnesses of faith and virtue that the world of sports, cinema, science, and music simply cannot provide.
Every crisis that the Church faces, every crisis that the world faces, is a crisis of holiness and a crisis of saints. Holiness is crucial because it is the real face of the Church. The core of the proclamation of the Saints was always hope, even in the midst of the darkest moments of history. It’s almost as if in those times of darkness, the light of Christ shines ever more brightly. We are living through one of those times, and the Lord is still taking applications for his extreme form of holiness and sanctity.
Believers in Jesus and his message must allow themselves to be enticed and enchanted by his life and his message contained in the Beatitudes. Today we must hold up the Beatitudes as a mirror in which we examine our own lives and consciences.
“Am I poor in spirit? Am I humble and merciful? Am I pure of heart?
Do I bring peace? Am I ‘blessed,’ in other words, ‘happy’?”
Jesus not only gives us what he has, but also what he is. He is holy and makes us holy.
- In the month of November, all the parishes in our Archdiocese of Seattle are conducting the annual tradition of Christian Stewardship. Let me first say a “big word of THANKS” to all of you who had generously given to our parish this past year.
Let’s be mindful of what Christian Stewardship is all about: “God give it ALL and then call us to SHARE”. Everything we have and everything we are, indeed are gifts from God. So, Stewardship is the ability to share our gifts of life – Time, Talent and Treasure – with others; with no strings attached and no conditions. We share these gifts out of our love for God and gratitude to God.
Therefore, Christian Stewardship: Receives God’s gifts gratefully; Cherishes and tends our gifts in a responsible manner; Shares them in love with others; and Returns them with increase to the Lord.
As a parish community, we can see that the gifts of Stewardship of Time, Talent and Treasure are even more generous in the difficult time of Covid-19 through the commitment of many parishioners who gave their time and specialties in new Ministries to help the parish to function as best as we can in limited gatherings and to keep everyone healthy and safe.
- At the main entrance, there is a “Prayer Scroll – Labeled For the Deceased” that you could write in the names of your loved ones whom you want our parish community to pray for them in this month of November. Also, another way is to use your All Souls’ envelop with lines on the back to fill in the names of your loved ones who have passed away and wanting our parish to pray for them. We will add these names along with the names on the Prayer Scroll to present at the Altar in remembering them at Mass all through the Month of November.
Christ’s Peace,
Fr. Phuong Hoang