We are coming to the end of our liturgical year, and we finish reading from the Gospel of Luke which we have done over the last year. Starting in Advent, we will start reading from the Gospel of Matthew. Luke has a unique worldview, and he presents Jesus differently that the other gospels. Luke shows Jesus fighting for the poor, downtrodden and forgotten. For every parable that Jesus gives to men, he gives another one that speaks to women (think of the lost sheep and lost coin!) and Jesus tells of a God of mercy and forgiveness open to all people from all nations.
Over the last several weeks our scripture readings on Sunday have a “life and death” and “end of life” theme to them. This happens every year around this time but with Luke , it is taken to another level. Fundamentally, Luke reminds us always of God’s abiding presence and his ever-abundant love and mercy. In that sense for Luke, it is not what happens to us that matters but how we respond to what happens to us that matters as a disciple of Jesus. In other words, we have a choice in responding to the challenges that come our way and we believe as people of faith, that God is always with us no matter what happens. That is a great comfort.
As we come to the end of the liturgical year with Luke, we fittingly end with the celebration of Thanksgiving here in the US. It is perfect to focus our attention on being grateful to God for this last year, no matter how difficult or challenging it has been for us. May we ready our hearts for Thanksgiving by reflecting more deeply on this last year. May we become ever thankful for the goodness of God and if we have had a particularly difficult year and cannot readily find gratitude in our heart, may we still choose to believe that God is ever present to us.
Speaking of gratitude, this weekend at all Masses we will have our annual presentation by the Finance Council, and we are grateful to all parishioners for their financial support to make this another strong year for us here at Saint Simon Parish. We have replenished some necessary reserves and now seek to rebuild our staff after the Covid cost savings. We will rely on your continued generosity in reaching our goals for the year ahead. Please read the annual report, the link is here . We do ask everyone to consider increasing their financial stewardship as inflation is taking a toll on this year’s budget like everywhere else. Here is a link to donate online to make a recurring gift which is the most efficient and effective way to give. We will be sending more information in a separate email directly to all parishioners. Even if you do not attend in person and are an online-only or “diaspora member,” we ask you to consider supporting us financially too. We need your support to keep our livestream strong and consistent.
We are deeply grateful to all those who donated to the School STEM building project bringing it to completion! I invite you to join us at the Grand Opening of the STEM Classroom this Sunday, November 13 at 10am, with the official ribbon cutting at 10:30am. Please join us to take a tour and enjoy the activities of our Parish School’s Open House. If you can join us, please register here and more information here. I am grateful for your support as for over 60 years, Saint Simon Parish School has been providing an outstanding education, where students are guided by Catholic values, encouraged to discover and develop their talents, and inspired to lead lives of service.
Finally, John Angotti will be back next week (November 15-20) and he will be joined by Jesse Manibusan for the Friendsgiving Concert on Saturday, November 19 at 6:30pm. They will play at the 5pm evening Mass followed by a 6pm reception with cheese and wine for adults, and snacks for children and 6:30pm concert. Please come to the Mass and concert, invite your family and friends. All are welcome! Saint Simon Parish School children attending the concert will get a free dress pass for Monday, November 21. You can register for the reception here.
Also, by popular demand the teaching Mass is back! Our school Mass on Wednesday, November 16 at 8:30am will be a teaching Mass where John and I will pause occasionally to explain different aspects of the Masses. All parents are invited to join us in person or livestream. I wish you all a great week!
God bless,
Fr. Brendan