With the beginning of the month of September and the celebration of the national holiday of Labor Day, we mark what has come to be called the “official” end of summer. While our daily schedules seem to change back to a more regular routine, what does not change are our spiritual schedules.
It is always good to observe any national holiday by attending and participating at Holy Mass and thanking God for His continued and abundant blessings to us personally as well as to His Church. It just seems that, then however we observe the holiday, it is done in a more satisfying way. If you are able, please do plan to go to Mass on Labor Day before doing anything else and be safe in all that you do.
During the month of September the Church celebrates several beautiful feasts and I would like to mention three of them and ask you to observe them, as you are able and willing to do. September 8 is the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Sept. 14 is the feast of the Exaltation of the Most Holy Cross; and Sept. 29 is the feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. All of these feasts fall on a weekday, but each of them has a wonderful and personal character for us to pray about and meditate on.
As we have been advertising and announcing for the last several months, Saturday, Sept. 19 is our much-anticipated Thirst 2015 Catholic Women’s Conference. We will be gathering at the University of Mary for the day, which promises to be a wonderful time for prayer, deepening of our faith and fostering of virtue, quiet time for Confession and Adoration and celebration of Holy Mass. If you are planning to come, thank you so much and if you are undecided, please make the choice to come and enjoy some time with Our Lord. You may register by going to the diocese website. The day is free and we ask for registration only so we can have an accurate count for lunch.
While I am on this subject, we are beginning to plan for our next Eucharistic conference, which will be held in 2016. As we finalize our plans, we will certainly alert everyone to them here in our paper as well as on our diocesan website.
Beginning the evening of Labor Day, we priests and many deacons of the diocese will gather in Medora for our annual fall clergy conference. Please pray for all of us at the conference and for all of our priests and deacons. Also, I want to thank you again for your prayers and great support for all of our seminarians and I ask you to please continue to pray to God for more vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated religious life of men and women.
Be assured of my daily prayers for you that you continue to grow in holiness of life and that your good example continues to bear good fruit in your lives and in the lives of others.