Entries for October 2024

Dear Parishioners:

This Friday we celebrate All Saints' Day in honor of all the saints, both known and unknown. It is the day after the feast of All Hallows' Evening (also known as Halloween). This solemnity comes from Christian tradition of celebrating the martyrdom of saints on the anniversary of their death. The current date of November 1 was instituted by Pope Gregory III (731-741), when he consecrated a chapel to all the martyrs in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and ordered an annual celebration. This celebration was originally confined to the diocese of Rome, but Pope Gregory IV (827-844) extended the feast to the entire Church and ordered it to be celebrated on November 1.

The following day, November 2nd, the Church in an ancient feast celebrates All Souls Day where we gather and remember and pray for the faithful departed. We as Christians believe that if we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we will have eternal life. Jesus has that great desire that we are one with him, and this day commemorates our oneness with Jesus both those here on earth and those who have passed before us.

Another practice on this feast day is to attend Mass to pray for the faithful departed in our families, in our Church and all who have died in Christ. Saint Odilo, Abbot of Cluny, established All Souls' Day in the eleventh century. The day purposely follows the Feast of All Saints, in order to shift the focus from those in heaven to those in purgatory.

Our parish family we will celebrate mass for all the Faithful Departed of our parish and of our families (especially those during this past year). This mass will be on Saturday Nov. 2 at 7am .

Please see our bulletin for a listing of those who were buried from our Church this past year and please keep them and their families in your prayers. Finally, during the month of November a Book of Remembrance will be placed before our baptismal font as a reminder of our dying and rising with our Lord, first in Baptism and then into eternal life.

Blessings!

Msgr. John Shamleffer

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Dear Parishioners:

The month of October is dedicated to the praying of the Rosary. The Rosary (from Latin rosarium, meaning "rose garden") or "garland of roses “is a popular and traditional catholic devotion.

How to Pray the Rosary - The purpose of the Rosary is to help keep in memory certain principal events or mysteries in the history of our salvation, and to thank and praise God for them. The prayers consist of repeated sequences of the Lord’s Prayer followed by ten recitations of the Hail Mary and a single praying of "Glory be to the father” each of these sequences is known as a decade. The praying of each decade is accompanied by meditation on one of the Mysteries of the Rosary, which recall the life of Jesus Christ. There are twenty mysteries reflected upon in the Rosary, and these are divided into the five Joyful Mysteries, the five Sorrowful Mysteries, the five Glorious Mysteries, and the five Luminous Mysteries.

The Pope has always had a great devotion to Mary and the rosary. During this month of October, we pray the rosary many different times in our Church. A number of years ago Pope John Paul II included new mysteries named the Luminous Mysteries, which reflect upon the public life of Jesus. During this month, you might gather with your families and pray the Rosary together as a sign of solidarity with our Pope. Perhaps you could also add the intention of all those who have fallen away from the practice of the faith, that they might be welcomed back home to the Church.

In a particular way as we pray the rosary we can also pray for religious liberty. This liberty is not only about our ability to go to Mass on Sunday or pray the Rosary at home. It is about whether we can make our contribution to the common good of all Americans. Can we do the good works our faith calls us to do, without having to compromise that very same faith?

Lastly this is also Pro-Life month let us continue to pray for all life from the unborn to those near death. With the Election close at hand, we could also pray for the end to abortions and all that harms life.

Blessings!

Msgr. John Shamleffer

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Signup for Adoration on Election Eve & Election Day

Dear Parishioners:

During these coming glorious days of October, we as a Church celebrate respect for life. Life in all of its manifestations from the beginning in the womb until the last final breathe. We pray that the Gospel of Life will overcome the culture of death in our land. We continue to work to do away with the intentional death that is abortion. We strive against assisted suicide and the lack of life values that leads to euthanasia. We call for an end of the execution of criminals. We respond with love and care to the life force of the infant in the womb, the child mentally incapacitated, people with disabilities among us, the alienated and lonely, the elderly and infirmed.

As we tinker with the beginnings, the end and even the intimate cell structure of life, we tinker with our own identity as a free nation dedicated to the dignity of the human person. When American political life becomes an experiment on people rather than for and by them, it will no longer be worth conducting. We are arguably moving closer to that day. Today, when the inviolable rights of the human person are proclaimed and the value of life publicly affirmed, the most basic human right, the right to life, is being denied or trampled upon, especially at the more significant moments of existence, the moment of birth and the moment of death.

As the Pope has expressed: “God's love does not differentiate between the newly conceived infant still in his or her mother's womb and the child or young person, or the adult and the elderly person. God does not distinguish between them because he sees an impression of his own image and likeness (Gn 1:26) in each one”.

Let us especially keep in our prayers all expectant mothers and all who care for children. Finally, I would like to thank all of you for your support of life and for all your words, prayers and actions that proclaim the sacredness and dignity of all life.

Blessings!

Msgr. John Shamleffer

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Dear Parishioners:

October is Respect Life Month, when Catholics around the nation highlight their witness to the dignity of every human life. Parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Louis will begin their observation with Respect Life Sunday at Masses the weekend of Oct. 5-6 and continue with events throughout the month.

Amendment 3 proposes to create a right to reproductive freedom, “which is the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care and respectful birthing conditions.” If passed, the measure would allow abortions until viability (typically around 22-24 weeks of pregnancy), with an exception for the “life and physical or mental health” of the mother.

The Missouri Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the state’s bishops, has opposed the measure, arguing in an August statement it would “effectively repeal long-standing health and safety standards for women.” Among the laws potentially affected by Amendment 3, it said, were “basic health and safety requirements for clinics where abortions are performed, requiring that abortions be performed only by a physician, informed consent requirements, laws prohibiting public funding of abortion and parental consent requirements before a minor’s abortion.”

“We urge all Missourians of good will to stand for the health and safety of women and their preborn children and oppose Amendment 3,” the statement said.

Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski, has said that he strongly opposes the amendment and that the Church is speaking out on the issue “to look out for the common good of mothers and children. Destroying life — particularly innocent, vulnerable, human life — is not what humanity was created for.”

“Leading up to the election we will work to inform the faithful, and the public, of Amendment 3’s deceptions and dangers,” he said in a social media post. “Please join me — through prayer, education, and action — as we urge all Missourians of good will to vote ‘no’ on Amendment 3.”

The gift of life is our most precious gift and needs to be defended at all times we lessen ourselves as a society if we say we can not care for life both born and unborn. I would invite you to pray a rosary with your family and or partake of our Eucharistic Adoration on Wednesdays in this month of October as we support life in all its forms.

God Bless!

Msgr John Shamleffer

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