November 7th

Dear Friends,

November’s Book of Dead is open and open and on a stand near the Saint Joseph altar. Parishioners are invited to inscribe the names of their deceased loved ones in this book, and we will remember them in a special way during the Masses this month. The Easter candle which is beside the Book of the Dead reminds us of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. This candle is lit during the 50 days of the Easter Season, as well as at all baptisms and funerals. We will also light it at our Sunday Masses this month. Our evening All Souls Day Mass last Tuesday was well attended and beautiful. 

I am very happy to report that our new parish web site is up and running. For the past months we had a temporary “landing page” with the basics, but the new page has now been launched! If you have not yet bookmarked this page on your computer, please do so. Here is our website’s address: www.nativitystgabriel.org

Thanks to Deacon Colm Mitchell for working on this with the website developer to whom the Renew My Church team directed us. We will continue to build out this site, but this is a strong start and a way of establish our public presence as we ramp up our engagement via social media. Our efforts now will involve getting the word out, not only for this, but for our new parish Facebook page. Jenni Simental has come on board part-time at our schools to work with marketing, recruitment, and development. She will also be working five or six hours/week on the parish side to coordinate our communications and outreach. Welcome, Jenni!

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 marked the formal end of World War I. It has been marked since then in the USA as Veterans Day, a celebration to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good. Interestingly enough, November 11 is also the feast of St. Martin of Tours, who is generally depicted as a Roman soldier and who, after his conversion to Christianity, left the military and eventually became a bishop known for his charity, devotion to prayer and good judgment.
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Just a note that I will be on the seminary campus this week, making my annual spiritual retreat. Deacon Colm will celebrate communion services in lieu of Mass on Mon, Tues, Weds and Fri. I will be back for next weekend’s confessions and Masses

​May your week reflect the encounter with Christ we experienced at Mass today!