We will be having our annual Blessing of the Pets in honor of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. The Blessing will be held on the lawn near the Jack Mulhall Center at 1:00 pm on Saturday, October 2nd. All pets should be on leashes or in other appropriate carriers. All creatures of our God & King, praise the Lord!

What’s going on with the Stained Glass Windows? When are they going to be back in place? How much longer will it take? I wanted to answer some of those questions today from an update I received from Azure Studios who is doing the window work. Everything is progressing according to plan & though there are times when it may seem that not much work is being done, rest assured that work is being done.

The Blessed Mother visited the children in Fatima, Portugal from May 13, 1917 to October 13th, 1917, a period that culminated in the Miracle of the Sun, known a “The Day the Sun Danced.” Our Lady of Fatima said to three children, pray the rosary in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary, in order to obtain peace in our world and an end to wars.

How can we reconcile having faith with the faults and failings of the Church that have been done over time? It can be a tough proposition, as we hear the Church proclaim the news of a good and loving God, but then hear and see a very human Church living that divine mission out, to reconcile the two. There is no denying that there have been times in the course of history that evil acts have been committed against other people, sometimes in the name of God.

Where are we going? Every journey that we set out on in life has, among other things, a destination, the place where our journey is taking us. Maybe the destination is to the store to pick up some bread, or to the restaurant to grab dinner, or to a family member or friend’s house to visit. Our destinations may vary, but rarely do we set out on a journey without having at least some idea of where we are hoping to go.

Over the course of the past many years, our parish family has made a tremendous difference in the lives of so many people. We are getting ready to celebrate 175 years of faith & life at St. Pat’s in just over a year, in 2023. We have only been able to do that through the generosity of so many, those of us who call St. Pat’s home now & those who have given & sacrificed so much so that we can be here & worship today. The story of our parish family has been & continues to be a story of life, faith, & generosity. Over the course of the upcoming weeks we will be helping to continue to tell that story as we engage in an Increased Offertory campaign, “Alive in Christ: Building Community & Growing in Faith.” At St. Pat’s, our campaign will be held in the next 2 upcoming weeks, Sept. 12/13 & Sept. 18/19.