The Archbishop is coming; the Archbishop is coming… In two weeks, Archbishop Christopher Coyne will be the principal celebrant of our 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday, October 5th. Along with offering a homily, the Archbishop hopes to have the pleasure of your company and to meet you and hear your thoughts about our faith, our parish and our archdiocese.

Seeking Peace through Prayer: When: Monday, September 22 Where: St. Catherine of Siena Church Time: 7 O’clock in the Evening Join Us From school shootings to killings on mass transit, from hate-filled and corruptive language to political assassinations, our Nation is in need of peace. And, not just our Nation but our Church, our families, our marriages, our children, our politics, our social media and our public discourse, our very selves.

Pope Leo XIV elevated Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati to sainthood this past weekend, and they are known as the millennial saints. Our two new saints present an opportunity for our Church and parish to reach out to our Gen Zers+ and invite them to “try us again for the first time;” to bring their questions, doubts and hopes here to St. Catherine and grow their Faith in Him

But in recent times this “attendance issue” has even impacted the regular, ever-present volunteers of a parish—lectors, ushers, Eucharistic ministers, altar servers and more. And this impacts the Mass and the outreach of our parish and all parishes, it impacts the more than 2 millennia traditions of the oldest and largest faith on the planet. I would dare say that it “impacts” God.

Thinking about humility as a theme of our gospel, two former first ladies come to mind. Barbara Bush once offering the commencement speech at Smith College told the audience that, and I paraphrase, on your deathbed you will not miss having finalized one more contract or missing out on another deal, rather the times missed with children, spouses, friends, and in doing good in our community will be our regrets