All Saints Day is normally a holy day of obligation.  As it falls on a Saturday in 2025, the Bishops have lifted the obligation.  There will be one Mass in observance of the holy day at 8am tomorrow, Saturday November 1st.  All are welcome.  None are required!  The Saturday evening Mass will be the first Mass for the weekend, All Souls Day.

Dear God,
thank you for the example of the Saints.
I desire to join in their company,
worshiping you forever in Heaven.

Please help me follow their footsteps,
and yours, Jesus Christ.

Please help me to conform
myself to Your image,
seeking Your will in all things,
as the Saints did.

Please help me to devote myself,
and all that I do, to Your glory,
and to the service of my neighbors.

Amen.

We will pray in a special way for the faithful departed at all the Masses this weekend November 1-2.  At the 9am Mass this Sunday November 2^nd we welcome families who have buried a loved one from Queens in the last year.  We will begin this Mass of Remembrance by calling the names of the recently deceased.  Families will come and light candles in their memory at the altar of the Blessed Mother.  After the names have been called out, anyone who has lost a loved one recently is welcome to come forward and light candles in their memory.  The Book of Remembrance will be out all throughout November so you can record the names of the departed you would like us to pray for.   

As the federal government shutdown passes the one month mark, critical programs lose their funding tomorrow, Saturday November 1st.  Up to now, the pain has been felt mainly by government workers, some who were laid off, others being expected to work without pay.  By tomorrow the shutdown will affect the 1 in every 8 Americans who depend on food assistance from the government in the form of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrional Assistance Program) as the means to fund this essential program run out.  That means 42 million people will be looking to food banks, food pantries and churches nationwide to make up the gap. 

The recent Social Justice Commission Shop ‘n Share was a great success, but the pantries will not be able to keep up with the sharp increase in demand about to take place right here in our community and all across the country.  Food donations for the pantries are always welcome, as are donations of cash and check which they can make stretch much further at the Food Bank of West Michigan where they can buy many pounds of food for much less than what would be spent at the grocery store.  

Please be even more mindful of the plight of the less fortunate as the shutdown continues and we enter into colder weather in the lead up to the holiday season.   There is a link at the bottom of this message that you can use if you are willing to make an online gift in support of our pantries.  You can also drop an envelope in the collection in addition to your regular offertory.  Just mark it for ‘pantry’ and we will split it between the St. Vincent de Paul and Jackson Community Food Pantry.  

In the meantime, we all must pray that lawmakers in Washington D.C. will set aside partisan power plays and come together for the good of the least among us.

Veterans Day falls on a Tuesday this year.  Our parish plans on celebrating those who served at the Queens School Mass at 9am on Friday November 14th.  If you served in any branch of the U.S. armed forces please accept the invitation of our school children and join us for Mass and recognition. 

The Queens Online Giving Hub is a great way for you to channel your charitable giving to the place or cause you want your money to support.  By clicking the link below, you can see the various causes we support as a parish and partner with us to make a gift of your own.  You can donate toward St. Vincent de Paul or the Jackson Community Food Pantry, youth and young adult ministry (new link added), and even the prison bible fund. 200 bibles were distributed to Jackson inmates in 2025 thanks to your generosity and we just ordered 200 more so we need to replenish that fund also.  

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teaching” (Heb 13:8-9).

Fr. Tim MacDonald

Pastor