Dear Parish Family, I am excited to share more about my time on retreat in future bulletins and conversations. For this weekend, I want to call to mind a few important events and reminders.

Priesthood Sunday (October 30-31)
  We warmly welcome David Chojnacki (IV Theology, St. Mary Seminary) and Ben Jackson (Senior, Borromeo Seminary) to our parish this weekend. David and Ben will be sharing their vocation stories both at St. Mary's and St. Patrick's this weekend. They are both seminarians at St. Mary's in Hudson where I was blessed to serve from 2018-2021. I know them well, and I am so grateful that you will get the chance to meet them and hear from them! Thank you for your prayerful support of these men discerning the great call to priesthood. Be sure to pick up a vocation poster this weekend so you can pray for all of our seminarians.

Mass of Remembrance (November 3)
  I invite you to celebrate an important Mass of Remembrance at our parish this week on Wednesday, November 3 at 7:00 p.m. in the Church. This is an opportunity to offer prayers for your loved ones who have passed from this life and to entrust them to God with our prayers. Masses like these have a powerful effect in the healing process as we mourn our loved ones and pray for those who have lost loved ones. See more info in today's bulletin, and know you are most welcome to attend this Mass as we enter the month of November where we remember our beloved dead in a special way.

Anointing Masses (November 6-7)
  We will offer the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick at all of our parish Masses next weekend of November 6-7. Those eligible for receiving the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick include those who are seriously ill in body, mind, or spirit; those preparing for surgery; those diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses or awaiting a diagnosis for one of these illnesses; and those who are experiencing the general frailty that comes with age. If you have only a minor illness that does not fit into one of the above categories, please know you are in our prayers as a Church even if you are not a candidate for Anointing of the Sick at this time. If you or your loved one is in need of anointing, please bring yourself and them to one of our Masses. If you are unable to attend these Masses on that weekend, please reach out to our parish office to schedule a time for Fr. Spisak or me to anoint you or your loved one.

Listening Sessions
  I really want to appeal to you to participate in the Listening Sessions we are holding in November. I have already been blessed to hear feedback from individuals and various ministries. Going forward, when I receive input about what we should be focusing on as a parish, I'm going to ask plainly, "Were you at a Listening Session?" These sessions are part of a coordinated parish effort to allow us to listen to the Holy Spirit and discern together how He wants us to move forward. I need all of us to put some skin in the game so that we can work towards a common mission with goals and values that will promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ to our parish and wider community. These listening sessions will help bring the good we want to do out into the open and into a shared approach of discernment and integration. I'm counting on your participation to make our parish community a vibrant and bright light of Christ in our community. Please see the invitation in today’s bulletin to attend one of the Listening Sessions here at the parish.