November Rector’s Letter
All Saints’ Day, November 1, 2022
Dear Parish Family,
Thank you
On behalf of all of the clergy, I want to begin my Rector’s letter by saying thank you! I am very grateful for the clergy appreciation gift. It is exceptionally generous. I am also very grateful for the opportunity to serve at St. Laurence for the last 13 years. I consider it a great privilege to serve the Lord alongside all of you.
Stewardship
If you haven’t gotten a chance to review our Stewardship Packet that we put in the mail to you last week, it’s online here. Please take some time to read it and to pray about the proposals contained in it. As you consider your giving for 2022, I want to say thank you so much for all of your past generosity. Remember that all that we have in life is a gift from a good and generous God. Stewardship is a response in gratitude to His love and generosity. You'll receive your pledge card in the mail this week. If you are ready, please bring it this Sunday for Stewardship Sunday.
All Souls' Day
Tomorrow, November 2, is All Souls’ Day, the day during the Christian year where we remember and pray for the departed. There will be a mass at 6:30pm where we will pray for all of the Parish’s loved ones who’ve gone on to the next life. If you have departed loved ones who you’d like for us to remember at the altar, contact us here to let us know their names.
All Saints’ Sunday
This Sunday we will celebrate the great feast of All Saints. If you will have kids with you, try to come a few minutes early; they will be carrying saint banners in the procession. We will also have some cute kids receiving their first Holy Communion and two little boys will be baptized. It’s shaping up to be a very special Sunday as we celebrate the Communion of the Saints.
In the Apostles Creed, we say we believe in the communion of saints. The critical feature of this belief is that we do not think life ends for us at the moment of death. We believe every individual is created with an immortal soul and those of us who are joined to Christ in this life will live with Him forever. Death does not interrupt that. The Communion of Saints, then, is the body of those faithful followers of Jesus who are gathered with Him. All Saints Day is a day of rejoicing because we belong to a big family that stretches through time to "every race, nation tribe and tongue”(Revelation 7:9).
Diocesan Convention
This weekend St. Laurence is hosting the Diocese of Fort Worth annual convention. All are welcome and encouraged to join us for the Convention Opening Eucharist on Fri, Nov. 4, at 5:00pm. The choir is going all out, with three new anthems never before heard at St. Laurence. I am exceptionally grateful to them for all of the extra work that they have put in prepping for this mass. If you’re free, it promises to be a real treat.
Thank you again for the generous gifts. With love,
Fr. John