Last Wednesday Fr. Jim Bruch turned eighty three. Residing in Manson, he is comfortable in the parish rectory and able to assist with daily Mass, Confessions and other the Sacraments when needed.

Our Boone County Catholic Community welcomes Alayna Longhorn as our new Bookkeeper for our parishes. She is from Pilot Mound, married to Scott and mother of four children.

So quickly we approach Thanksgiving Day, and the beginning of Advent on the Sunday following. With good reason the Church has set the same gospel passage each year for this Thursday:

Last week I had the privilege of con-celebrating a funeral Mass at Resurrection of our Lord Catholic Church in Pocahontas with Fr. Collison, native son of Boone. He may move a bit slower now, but still has that wry sense of humor, characteristic smile and gracious attitude.

To the question of eternal life and the resurrection of which Jesus was challenged by the Sadducees in this Sunday’s gospel, he replied: “They no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise.” What eternal life entails is beyond our comprehension, however certain our faith may be. We do know “we shall see him as He is.” Stepping into November, the “month of remembrance” we graciously recall the lives who have touched us in some way.

Tuesday is All Saints Day, a holy day of obligation. More than an obligatory feast day, our pause each November 1st celebrates this wild, infectious, holy community of men and women in heaven; their unique personalities, abilities, character, language, and ethnicity radiates the promise of God’s image and calling within each individual’s earthly life.

Seems the pastoral plan for Boone County Catholic churches continues to be a bit perplexing. Though the Diocese has recently decreed our ‘overall’ parish name as Ascension—after a process that began in the summer months—we are not able to officially use the name until the first of the year. Likewise, our finances for the two parishes will remain separate for the next several months or longer per the diocesan directive.

As many already know, Bishop Nickless has reinstated the Sign of Peace as part of our liturgy. With that, he is asking that we priests communicate his thoughts on this ritual; 3 October 2022

Last Sunday on the bike trail I came upon an elderly gentleman who was standing alongside the trail, his bike parked next to him. No special riding gear; comfortably dressed in blue jeans, t- shirt and sneakers.

We step into Respect Life Month, a reminder of the dignity of all life from conception to natural death—and those who have been forgotten, alienated, ignored, or simply ‘written off.’ Pope Francis offers us words of hope, re-affirming our Christian awareness and protection of God’s gift of life: “Every child who, rather than being born, is condemned unjustly to being aborted, bears the face of Jesus Christ, bears the face of the Lord, who even before he was born, and then just after birth, experienced the world’s rejection. And every elderly person...even if he is ill or at the end of his days, bears the face of Christ.

USCCB, (United States Catholic Conference of Bishops) just released the summary of the Synod gatherings that has been sent to Rome. I include a few general highlights of the report (though you may read its entirety on our parish website). “In the Fall of 2021, the local churches in the United States of America joined the worldwide Catholic Church in entering the diocesan phase of the 2021-2023 Synod - For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission. The Church in the United States is made up of an estimated 66.8 million Catholics spread across one hundred and seventy-eight (178) Latin Church (arch) dioceses, including the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.

Each household received a letter from Bishop Nickless this past week, asking for your support of the 2022/23 “Together as One,” our Diocesan Annual Appeal. Please prayerfully consider making a gift and know that your offering will help fund ministries that benefit the more than 25,000 Catholic households and especially our own parish. As St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans: “so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."(2 Corinthians 9:7)

Sr. Josephine arrived safely back in Houston after sharing the mission and ministry of The Sisters of St. Michael the Archangel and receiving our rural hospitality. We received this letter from Sr. Balogun, their Mission Coordinator. On behalf of the Superior General and the Sisters of St. Michael the Archangel, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the parishioners for your love and kindness towards Sr. Josephine during her visit to Sacred Heart and St. Malachy, for mission appeal.