November 8, 2026

Dear Friends in Christ,
 
With the advent of November, we are entering that time of year where well thought-out preparations are critical. With my mother and aunts carrying the bulk of planning for my childhood Thanksgiving celebrations, I’m positive the advance work needed to bring together family members, a delicious meal, and things to entertain a houseful of people was no easy task. Even the gift buying portion of Christmas is a multi-month affair, as we already see Christmas garland festooning the storefronts of shops today.
 
How well we are prepared figures prominently in Sunday’s Gospel Reading for the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time. In the Gospel Reading from Matthew 25: 1-13, Jesus tells his disciples a parable about entering the Kingdom of Heaven being like 10 virgins waiting to meet the bridegroom. According to Loyola Press’ Background on the Sunday Gospel Reading, scholars tell us that young maidens – generally, family and friends of the bride – would meet the bridegroom when he came to bring his bride to her new home. But in this parable, only half of the young women remembered to bring oil to light their lamps; the other five had none. So, when the bridegroom was announced, half of the young womens’ lamps were going out, prompting the wiser women to tell their counterparts to buy some more. And, in their absence, the bridegroom arrived, only five of the women were prepared to enter the wedding feast, and the door was locked to the others.
 
The moral for us today? Be prepared for Jesus to arrive at any time, “for you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” In other words, live every day as if it will be the last one for which we can prove ourselves worthy to live forever with God. Thus, we should practice generosity, compassion and friendship every day to those who need it. We should pray incessantly for faith, hope and love. And we should follow in the example of the great communion of saints, whose members give us varied but Christ-centric ways of navigating this life here on earth.
 
As we have just three more weeks before the First Sunday of Advent, may we continue soaking up all the lessons we can on how to become better disciples of Jesus during these remaining weeks of Ordinary Time. And my apologies for not sending out a mid-week Flocknote this past week – I traveled to Austin, TX, to baptize my new grandnephew.
  
I wish you all a blessed and wonderful week!

Yours in Christ,
Fr. John
 
Sunday, November 8:

• Mass at 9:30 am in the church. Celebrated by Fr. David Narváez. Mass readings
• Mass at 11:15 am in the church. Celebrated by Fr. John Dillon. Mass readings
• Mass in Spanish at 1 pm in the church. Celebrated by Fr. David Narváez. Mass readings
• Mass at 5 pm in the church. Celebrated by Fr. John Dillon. Mass readings
• Evening Prayer at 7:30 pm. Hosted by parishioner Diana Massino.

Monday, November 9:

• Morning Prayer at 7:30 am. Hosted by parishioner Ruth Hutchins. 
• Mass at 9 am in church. Celebrated by Fr. John Dillon. 
• Virtual Parish Rosary at 4 pm. Led by a member of the Parish Rosary Group.
• Evening Prayer at 7:30 pm. Hosted by parishioner Diana Massino.

Tuesday, November 10:

• Morning Prayer at 7:30 am. Hosted by parishioner Ruth Hutchins.
• Mass at 9 am in the church. Celebrated by Fr. John Dillon. 
• Evening Prayer at 7:30 pm. Hosted by parishioner Diana Massino.

Parish Resources:

• See the bulletin for November 8. 
• See the most recent issue of the Catholic Standard. 
• See the October issue of Our Parish Times.