Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Catholic songwriter (and frequent presence at All Saints back in the day) Sarah Kroger has a beautiful song called Humbled Heart, wherein the refrain goes “All I can say is I need you / All I can do is fall down on my knees / All I can offer is praise upon praise / for the grace upon grace I’ve received.”
And this is where my heart is these days.
First, I praise the Lord for this great parish. Our All Saints celebrations had everyone filled with joy, and I thank my incredible team here in the office, the Knights of Columbus and spouses, the army of volunteers, the musicians, the new Young Families Ministry, the Scouts, the American Heritage Girls, the Preschool, and all of you who showed up for making the day so joyful. The planning committee made this the best parish feast day of our time together, and I want to especially thank them: Director of Parish Life and Events Jessica Keane; our Faith Formation team of Kelly Powers, Megan Engelen, and Jesse Butrum; our Logistics Team of Simon Vu, Richard Ducote, Linnea Naylor, Jen Nelson, and Scott Early. They brought everything together so wonderfully. I am deeply grateful to them and everyone they looped in to have such a successful parish celebration.
And I cannot fail to thank my brother Knights who ran with our crazy idea to have a November fish fry. It was no small feat yet you stepped up to the plate and hit a home run. Shall we go bigger next year???
Secondly, at Masses last weekend I announced that in the time between November 15 and the eventual approval of Fr. Anthony’s permanent residency application, he would not be allowed to work or even volunteer his time as his Religious Workers Visa was set to expire. HOWEVER, in a dramatic turn of events, on Monday evening I received confirmation that his visa will now cover him until May 2027, by which time he should be an official permanent resident of these United States! This might even be miraculous. Fr. Anthony will be able to continue serving the Lord here at All Saints and in the Ghanaian community without interruption.
And finally, we will be hosting an incredible pre-Advent parish-wide mission November 20-21. John Edwards, Catholic podcaster, speaker, missionary, husband and father, will be sharing how the Lord’s power shows up in our brokenness, and how we are made strong in being restored to our identity as sons and daughters of a great Heavenly Father. John Finch, Catholic artist and songwriter will be providing powerful music to aid our prayer and worship over those two days. I couldn’t be more grateful for this incredible opportunity. Registration is free, but please do it so we know how many snacks to have on hand.
Grace upon grace! There is indeed cause for rejoicing here. Thank YOU for being ALL SAINTS!
Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!
All you holy saints of God, pray for us!
Peace in Christ,
Fr. Michael Silloway
Pastor