We welcome the Summit Awakening retreat taking place in our parish this weekend. We live in an era when there is legitimate worry about young adults falling away from the faith. Especially in this context it is exciting to see the depth of this group. I am also encouraged by what I have seen with the retreat for young adults offered by our parish three weeks ago, the Mastodon Catholic activities at IPFW, the number of young adults attending our parish Mass on Monday evenings, and the number of young adults in our OCIA. There are many young adults in our midst with a vibrant faith life.
As we are approaching November, I will point out that All Saint’s Day falls on Sunday this year and All Souls’ Day, November 2, is on a Monday. We will have our candlelight memorial Mass on that Monday evening at 6:30. We will read the names of all those who have had a St. Charles funeral in the past year and light a candle for each. If you have had a loved one pass this year, please join us and invite family as well. If a family member died in the past year and the funeral was not in our parish, give us a call and we will add them to the list of names read at the Mass. Our parish office number is 482-2186.
A miscarriage is a tragic family event, and a family going through that grief is in need of our love and prayer. If the child will be buried, we often gather the family for a simple prayer service at the cemetery. We also have a group in the parish which offers prayer along with a box with remembrances and prayers for the family in grief. Feel free to call the parish if you are in need.
The Franciscan Center asked if they could have a food drive in our parish a couple of weeks ago. Though I agreed, I was apprehensive. We had just taken up a food drive for Catholic Charities, a baby item drive for Walking with Moms, a drive for candy for Cardinal Fest, and drives for money for St. Vincent de Paul and the Annual Bishop’s Appeal. However, with just a simple notice in the bulletin, the results were amazing. We received a note of thanks from the Franciscan Center with this: “Thank you for the overwhelming generosity you showed in our food drive. Your response was incredible – one of the largest we’ve seen in our 37 years – and we are truly humbled.” I am also overwhelmed by the generosity of this parish.
