Dear Parishioners and Friends:

Thank you to all who volunteered and organized Hospitality Sunday and to all who participated to welcome Father David Nolan to the Parish. Bishop O’Hara will install Father Nolan as Pastor of Blessed Sacrament on October 6 at the 12:30pm Mass. 

This weekend we welcome Father Kevin MacDonald who will speak to us of the Missionary life of the Church. As always thank you for your support not just of our local community but of the Universal Church.  

This week the Church honors Saints Cornelius and Cyprian, both of whom lived during the persecution of Decius in the third century. Decius had already put the Pope, Fabian, to death, hoping the Church would not survive. Cornelius was elected in Fabian’s place and carried on preaching and administering the Sacraments to the faithful. Cyprian, friend of Cornelius, was Bishop of Carthage in North Africa at this time and he too suffered martyrdom under Decius. 

Friday the Church honors Sts. Andrew Kim Tae-Gon, Priest, and Paul Chong Ha-Sang, and Companions, Martyrs. Andrew was the first native Korean priest, ordained in 1844. Both he and his father were martyred for preaching the Christian Faith. Paul was a lay apostle and married man who, along with several companions, was killed for his faith. It wasn’t until 1883 when religious freedom was permitted in Korea. Today we remember the small communities of faith that first began to believe in Jesus, held onto their faith during persecution, and whose witness gave rise to a deep faith and fidelity. 

Saturday the Church honors St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. Matthew, a tax collector, a profession at that time known for its greed, was called by Jesus, and in Matthew’s call we see a certain immediacy in his response. The Lord himself was able to draw Matthew from his profession, from his possessions, from his way of life to a new mission. Matthew, who wrote his Gospel for a Jewish audience, highlights the divine nature of Jesus, something that would have been a point of disagreement between the Jewish Community and the earliest disciples of Jesus. This is why Matthew begins his Gospel with a genealogy of Jesus going back to Abraham (to show Jesus’ Jewish roots) leading to the Virgin birth (to show his Divine Nature). In Matthew’s Gospel, God is revealed through Jesus’ healing and miracles. 

As always, pray for peace.