Twenty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time

News and Notes:  I hope to see you at the upcoming social events:  the Pasta Dinner next Saturday, September 13 following the 4PM Mass at OLA; and the Collaborative Barbeque Sunday, September 21 after the 10AM Mass at SMG.  Social occasions are proven ways of bringing people together in an informal setting to get to know each other and to build relationships that can be so beneficial to forging thriving communities of faith.  Join us at one or both of these September socials…signup sheets can be found at the front entrance of our churches.  Also on September 21 during the 10AM Mass at SMG, we will commission all our catechists in both parishes for their ministry during the upcoming year of Faith Formation classes.  Let’s pray for our catechists…that they may be convincing witnesses and effective teachers of the faith to our children.  For those of you looking for a highly informative and spiritually uplifting book to read, I recommend James Martin’s Jesus:  A Pilgrimage.  He retraces a trip he took with a friend to the sites of the Holy Land awhile back, and couples the account of his pilgrimage with a delightful mix of easy-to-understand biblical scholarship, and personal experiences and reflections.  The book is published by HarperOne in New York.  Blessings to all you as the autumn months begin!