As a reminder, we have a few parish activities this weekend that you might enjoy but could easily overlook.
If you have received and read this bulletin by email on Friday, please note that the annual Courthouse Rosary Rally is this Saturday, October 10th at Noon. This year’s version will be a bit more spontaneously organized with sufficient social distancing. Thank you for participating in this event which is an annual way of commending our whole county – and, therefore, our whole parish – to the mercy and care of our Lord as a response to a call for prayer for peace more than 100 years ago in 1917!
Our Bereavement Haven support group is planning to meet at 2:30 p.m. in the St. Benedict Social Hall this Sunday, October 11th. New members can join fairly readily because each month’s topic for reflection and discussion is independent from the previous month and we always begin each meeting with a time for introductions – and this is almost always a very enjoyable part of the gathering as well as very helpful for the healing process. This month’s topic is drawn from Chapter 7 of the book, Finding a Loving God in the Midst of Grief, and considers how our images of God impact the healing God wants us to experience.
At 4:00 p.m. in St. Benedict Church on Sunday, October 11th, we are planning to pray the Rosary as part of a nationwide time of prayer called the “Rosary Coast to Coast”! The focus of this Rosary is holiness in our nation and world, organized by a group called the U.S. Grace Force! Each decade of the Rosary will focus on different aspects of where challenges to growing in holiness are especially strong, and where the need for God’s grace is, therefore, especially needed.
Early in-person voting has begun this past week on Tuesday, October 6th. So that you can participate in this year’s election in a calmer way, you may go to the Guernsey County Board of Elections Office directly across from Theo’s Restaurant and vote early in a setting that is already set-up for safe voting.
Bishop Monforton has produced a five-minute video for guiding our voting decision-making as well. Please view it at the Diocese of Steubenville website: www.diosteub.org.
In addition to the fundraising campaign for our twin parish in Haiti, a campaign for providing two new ultrasound machines for the Open Arms Pregnancy Center is being prepared. This time we will be able to draw from two matching funds sources (the Knights of Columbus Supreme Council and a foundation in Washington state) so that our portion for purchasing two ultrasound machines would be less than it cost to purchase the one we did back in 2014. And, because one of the machines is for a mobile unit that could reach out to Noble County and western Belmont County, we have already received sizable donations from the councils and parishes there. More on this very soon!
May the Lord continue to bless us with joy and peace as disciples of Jesus and to help us always to be ready for the gift of eternal life!