Happy Thirtieth Sunday! We’re all gearing up for the hallowed festivities of the coming week, and hopefully you’ll catch a glimpse of the little ones dressed up in their costumes. My favorites are the onesie animal costumes for infants. On my brother’s side, my two nieces are going to be Luigi and a Goomba (those brown, mushroom-shaped enemies you jump on in the Super Mario video games). If you knew them, you’d know that’s very on brand. They are funny kids. No word yet on my sister’s kids, so that will have to be a surprise!

Thinking back on it now, I honestly don’t remember any of my childhood costumes except for one Halloween when I was a bat. Not Batman, which would have been much cooler. I also remember one year when it was so cold that it snowed, and I had to wear snow pants. But my candy sack was always a pillowcase, which I’m sure is still the vibe these days. Right? That’s practically a childhood rite of passage, I should think.

Whether you’re reading this bulletin on Saturday or Sunday, remember that you’re invited to our St. Robert Cemetery Walk! It runs from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM both evenings. Bundle up, just in case, and park in the church parking lot. We’ll shuttle you over, since there is no parking on-site. The walk follows our cemetery pathway and takes about 30–40 minutes. Along the way, we meet the stories of saints whose lives teach us Christian wisdom about life and death. It’s quite moving, and it’s a fitting way to prepare for November, the month dedicated to praying for our beloved dead.

In my priestly ministry, I regularly visit cemeteries to pray for and bury the dead. Both are works of mercy: praying for the dead is a spiritual work of mercy, and burying the dead is a corporal one. But even back in my college days at UM, I loved to walk through cemeteries now and then. For two years, I lived in a house directly across the street from Forest Hill Cemetery, whose graves go all the way back to the 1850s. It always seemed very peaceful to me. I would notice the birth and death dates, and who was buried near whom. Even gravestones can teach us so many lessons about life.

As I believe I encouraged us last year, consider visiting a cemetery sometime in November and walking among the graves. Pray for the people you pass by or visit the grave of one of your own loved ones and spruce it up in some small way. Learn the silent lessons the dead can teach us while you still have time among the living. At 39, I’m already feeling how quickly life rushes forward.

Let us thank God for every day He gives us and make the most of this precious gift of time.

From Fr. Brian

This Sunday, we are celebrating all the married couples in our parish, so I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the three goods of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.  St. John Paul II describes these goods in his apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio.

“Conjugal love involves a totality, in which all the elements of the person enter- appeal of the body and instinct, power of feeling and affectivity, aspiration of the spirit and of will. It aims at a deeply personal unity, the unity that, beyond union in one flesh, leads to forming one heart and soul; it demands indissolubility and faithfulness in definitive mutual giving; and it is open to fertility (cf Humanae vitae, 9). In a word it is a question of the normal characteristics of all natural conjugal love, but with a new  significance which not only purifies and strengthens them, but raises them to the extent of making them the expression of specifically Christian values.”

His Holiness begins with the goal of marriage: “a deeply personal unity, that goes beyond union in one flesh.” Marriage is not merely physical; rather, its aim is to form a union of the heart, mind, and soul of two people. This does not mean that the two persons lose or forget who they are and become a new person who cannot act unless their spouse is in the same room. Rather, the unity that forms helps the spouses become more fully who they have always been called to be. This unity helps each person become more fully alive and free, allowing them to draw on the grace God bestows through their marriage bond. For this deep spiritual union to exist, the goods of marriage, which also serve as requirements of the sacrament, must be lived out:

1.Indissolubility: Marriage cannot be dissolved. Once the spouses exchange their consent to one another in the presence of God (before a member of the clergy and two witnesses), there is no end to the marriage. Only death dissolves a marriage.

2.Faithfulness, or fidelity: Just as Jesus Christ was completely and totally faithful to His Father and to the Church, so too should spouses be totally faithful to God and to one another. Because Jesus lives His covenantal union with His Bride in this way, those who have entered into marriage are called to the same lofty goal.

3.Openness to life: Spouses must always remain open to life. This is non-negotiable, because true love and faithfulness always bear fruit, whether physical fruit in children or spiritual fruit. Spouses must remain open to that fruit in the conjugal act. To close oneself off to being fruitful in any way denies one’s spouse an integral part of oneself: one’s paternity or maternity. Even NFP can be used with a contraceptive mindset. If that is the case, the deep spiritual union between the spouses cannot continue to develop, because one or both of them is withholding something incredibly important from the other.

All three must be lived out for this deep union to grow.

May God bless you in your vocation of marriage, and may we all give thanks to God for the incredible blessings He bestows on our parish because of your willingness to say yes to His will.

The Good Shepherd Advent Service is back! After a multi-year break, we are thrilled to welcome everyone back for our cherished annual gathering! All parish ladies are invited as guests or hostesses. The service will be held on Sunday, November 29, from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. in the Family Life Center. Registration forms are available at the front entrance of the church and on the table outside the parish office. RSVP is required. Seating is limited. Deadline to register is Sunday, November 22.

Men of the parish are invited to come and enjoy growing in their spiritual walk with others. We will meet in the Knights of Columbus Hall from 6:30—7:30 on Wednesday, October 28 for our next Cor Meeting. We always have snacks and refreshments! Invite a friend or family member. We look forward to seeing you!

See what men are saying about it in the film below:

The mission of the Cor is to refocus Catholic men on Jesus Christ and to form and strengthen them in faith and virtue through a brotherhood committed to prayer, formation and fraternity.  The goal of each Cor gathering is to provide the opportunity for men to encounter Christ, to pray together, to be formed in their faith, and to strengthen their bonds of brotherhood, preparing them for courageous leadership and the mission of Evangelization for their families and communities.

The next meeting and breakfast will be held on Saturday, November 7 at Good Shepherd in the Family Life Center from 6:30—8:00 a.m. Breakfast at 7:00 p.m. All men are welcome to attend.

There will be a Euchre Tournament on Wednesday, October 21 in the Good Shepherd Knights of Columbus Hall at 6:30 pm. Cost is $5.00 per person. All levels of experience. Bring your own snacks and beverages. Pizza is available for purchase. Friends and Family welcome! 

Hope to see you there!!

*They will be held the first and third Wednesday of the month.