Notes from the Pastor

On Thursday of this week we will be celebrating Thanksgiving Day. Family members who may live great distances apart try to come together for Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving is about families. Thanksgiving is also about turkey and stuffing, and cranberry sauce, and all the favorite side dishes that have been passed down from one generation to another. Thanksgiving is about watching football on TV, taking a walk in the autumn sunshine as the falling leaves rustle around your feet, visiting with neighbors, and Thanksgiving is about the afternoon nap to recover from the big dinner. And for some, Thanksgiving is about looking at all the advertising circulars and planning their shopping trips.

This weekend, we will join other parishes of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in renewing our commitment to sacrificial giving (“tithing”) as the means of financial stewardship within the parish. Many of our parishioners have embraced sacrificial giving and I am grateful for your commitment to God and to our parish. Your “Attitude of Gratitude” is a blessing to our parish and to your personal life as well. There is no doubt that we find ourselves in difficult economic times and many people are suffering the effects of unemployment or underemployment. Others have seen their retirement “nest egg” decline significantly. Still, there is much to be grateful for because in spite of the current economic hardships, we continue to have a much higher standard of living than most of the people of the world.

There sure is a lot of “love” in today’s Scripture Readings! In the First Reading (Deuteronomy 6:2-6), Moses tells the Israelites to “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” The Second Reading (Hebrews 7:23-28) reminds us that Jesus gave himself as the perfect sacrifice for all of us – the ultimate sign of God’s love. Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 18) contains the refrain – “I love you, Lord, my strength.” And in the Gospel (Mark 12:28-34), Jesus adds a new commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” which is taken from Leviticus 19:18.

This coming Thursday, November 1st, we will celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints which is a Holy Day of Obligation. Masses will be held at 6:30 am, 8:15 am, & 6:30 pm. It is a day when we honor the lives of all saints – those officially recognized by the Church, as well as countless others known only to God. As part of the Apostle’s Creed, we acknowledge our belief in the “communion of saints.” The communion of saints describes the spiritual union that exists among the saints in Heaven, the souls in purgatory, and the faithful living on earth.

Today’s Gospel touches the very heart of discipleship and that is sacrifice and service for others. If you had one wish, what would you ask for? Good health and long life? Wealth? Power? The conversion of loved ones? How many of us would honestly ask for meaningful work with a lot of suffering and few external rewards?

The Gospel reading today (Mark 10:17-30) is very familiar to most of us, but one that we may be tempted to ignore because we think it does not apply to us. It is important to remember, however that Jesus is speaking to each of us in our particular circumstances in life.

October is designated at “Respect Life Month” and today, in particular, is observed by the Catholic Church as “Respect Life Sunday.” Since the time of Christ, the Catholic Church has had a consistent ethic of life. As a Church, we recognize that all persons have an inherent human dignity having been created in the image and likeness of God, and it is our obligation to uphold the dignity of all human life.

Last February was the beginning of our Annual Catholic Appeal campaign for 2018. Unlike the tithing renewal that we will do each November, in which we commit ourselves to a weekly tithe to the support of our parish, the Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA) is our opportunity to consider the needs not just of our own parish, but of Catholics across the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, many of whom are not only our “spiritual” brothers and sisters in Christ, but are also literally our brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, as well!