Weekend of October 29-30, 2022

Dear Friends,

            Many of our Saint Bartholomew parishioners will remember Father Joseph McCaffrey, who was in residence at Saint Bartholomew’s a number of years ago. Father McCaffrey was at that time, and still is, the school minister at Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls, where he has ministered for the past 20 years. Father McCaffrey was recently appointed Pastor of Our Lady of Peace Parish in Milmont Park, Delaware County.

            Because Little Flower will be without a school minister (at least until June) with Father Joe’s departure, the Archbishop has appointed our own Father Lane to be chaplain at Little Flower one day a week. The clergy office of the Archdiocese thought it would be best to place an assistant pastor in this role, and, as I’ve told you many times recently, since there aren’t many assistant pastors, the lot fell to Father Lane.

            Father Lane’s primary assignment is with us here Saint Timothy’s and Saint Bartholomew’s. Being chaplain at Little Flower one day a week is a secondary assignment for Father, where he will primarily be celebrating Mass and being a priestly presence. I wanted to let you know about this appointment personally, before any rumors started to circulate. Be assured that Father Lane is remaining with us.

As we celebrate Halloween (which literally means, of course, “All Hallows [or All Saints] Eve,” and begin the month of November this week, we are reminded of that “great company of witnesses” we have in heaven, the saints, who guide us and intercede for us and show us the way to heaven. This month annually reminds us of all our beloved dead, those who, as the liturgy reminds us, “have gone before us marked with the sign of faith.” As we ask the saints, particularly during this autumn time, to continue to intercede for us before the throne of God, let us remember especially our loved ones and friends who have died, that our prayers may help them gain the reward promised to all those who are faithful.

I’d once more like to call your attention to a few important points, as we move into November:
 

1. ALL SAINTS DAY – Tuesday, November 1^st – This is a holyday of obligation. Masses will be celebrated at Saint Timothy at 6:30 and 8:30 A.M., and 12:05 and 7:00 P.M. Mass will be celebrated at Saint Bartholomew at 10:00 A.M.

 

2. ALL SOULS DAY – Wednesday, November 2^nd – All Souls Day is, as you know, the one day of the year on which we focus as a Church completely on the faithful departed. The Scriptures tell us that it is a “good and wholesome thought to pray for the dead.” We, of course, remember the deceased every time we pray, especially at Mass, but we do so in a particular way on All Souls Day. Please know that Father Lane, Father Noone, Father Jack, and I shall remember all of your beloved dead in our Masses and prayers on this day, and throughout the month of November. Masses on this commemoration of all the faithful departed are at Saint Timothy’s at 8:30 A.M. in the lower church and 7:00 P.M. in the upper church.

 

3. SOLEMN MASS TO COMMEMORATE ALL THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED – Wednesday, November 2^nd  -  This Mass, which will be celebrated on this day at 7:00 P.M. in Saint Timothy’s upper church, will, in a special way, commemorate all of our faithful departed. We will remember by name all those who were buried from both Saint Bartholomew Church and Saint Timothy Church this past year. I hope that many of our parishioners and friends will be with us on the evening of November 2^nd at 7:00 as we celebrate this Solemn Mass for All Souls Day, commemorating all the faithful departed, and in particular those whose funerals were celebrated at Saint Timothy’s and Saint Bartholomew’s during the past year. The most perfect prayer we can offer to God on behalf of the dead is the Eucharist, so I invite and encourage everyone to gather with us so that we can pray as the voice of the Church for those who have gone before us. Please invite your family members, neighbors, and friends to come along.

 

4. BOOK OF THE NAMES OF THE DEAD – Our Book of the Names of the Dead is now open. A book is placed by the baptismal font in Saint Timothy’s upper church and by the baptismal font in Saint Bartholomew’s Church. You are invited to write the names of your beloved dead in this book so that all of us may pray for all the faithful departed. These books will be enshrined in our churches throughout the month of November.

 

5. ALL SOULS REMEMBRANCES – The All Souls envelopes, upon which you are able to write the names of your beloved deceased, will be placed next to the tabernacles in Saint Timothy and Saint Bartholomew Churches throughout the month of November, as a reminder that we remember all the faithful departed, especially in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. There are extra envelopes available at all the doors of the church.

            Know that you and those you love are daily remembered in my Mass and my prayers.

                                                                                    Love and prayers,
                                                                                    Father Olivere