Dear Seton Family,
The call to take up the cross, to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of the gospel, can be overwhelming, and at times not the most inviting offer we ever receive. The scripture readings this weekend, taken together, provide a compelling argument for the path of selflessness. Jesus reminds us about the role of the servant, but it is the Letter of James that points out that “where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice” ( James 3:16). The path of peace, on the other hand, flows from the “wisdom from above.” This doesn’t make the path of discipleship any easier, but it does inspire us to surrender to the grace of God all the more so as to become, as the prayer of St. Francis inspires us, “instruments of peace.” To become servants, to take up the cross, is to offer ourselves for the Lord’s service, and by his grace we become instruments, signs, and witnesses to virtue rather than vice, to empty ourselves in selflessness rather than to hoard selfishly. The world might not see this as good, but we are confident that this is the path to life, to follow the example and way of life of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
In other news….
Due to an illness in the family, the funeral Mass for long time parishioner, Leon Hayden, scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday) is postponed. I will inform you when it will be rescheduled.
Looks like there will be beautiful weather this Sunday for our Parish Picnic! Fr. Vince Cushing will be in attendance and we will be congratulating him for over 30 years of service at Seton! As a member of the Franciscans, he cannot accept monetary gifts, so we will be presenting his community with a gift in his honor. Yours truly, along with our business manager, Liam Benton, will be in the dunking booth.
Since I am presiding at all Masses this weekend, I will be making an announcement regarding our Stewardship initiative next month.
I have been encouraged by our attendance since restrictions were dropped at the end of June. We have been over 600 since the beginning of September. Normally at this time of year, we would have between 1000-1100 total for our weekend Masses. For those who need the assurance of spacing, I encourage attendance at the Sunday morning 8:00am or 5:30pm Masses, which tend to be less crowded. We continue to offer live-streaming each Sunday at the 9:30am Mass for those who need to be absent from Mass or attend Daily Mass (Monday—Thursday) at 9am. I encourage everyone to do their part in keeping the virus from spreading... wear masks when necessary, use hand sanitizer, and if you have not yet done so, get vaccinated.
See you this weekend!
Fr. Paul
A reminder....
Don’t forget to use hand sanitizers in the Narthex and when you enter the church at the Food Pantry entrance.
As usual, we will continue to live-stream Mass (Mon—Thurs at 9:00am and Sunday at 9:30am) on the parish Facebook (link) and uploaded on YouTube (link), and our parish website. If you do not have Facebook but wish to watch our livestream, click here for instructions.