If you have a medically-diagnosed gluten intolerance and would like to receive Holy Communion with a low gluten host, please notify a greeter or sacristan at least ten minutes prior to the start of Mass to place your request.  Low gluten hosts are not consecrated prior to the specific Mass for which they are requested.  Please approach the Communion station of the priest-celebrant for the reception of Holy Communion by the low gluten host that you have requested.

Dear Parishioners,

There has been some significant legislation enacted recently that affects the pro-life posture of Catholic social teaching. Next Sunday, October 3, is Respect Life Sunday. The USCCB Secretariat for Pro-Life has developed in this Year of Joseph the following “A Prayer to St. Joseph, Defender of Life” to call our

prayerful attention to the gift of life in general, but “especially where it is vulnerable or threatened.”

A Prayer to St. Joseph, Defender of Life

Dearest St. Joseph, at the word of an angel, you lovingly took Mary into your home. As God’s humble servant, you guided the Holy Family on the road to Bethlehem, welcomed Jesus as your own son in the shelter of a manger, and fled far from your homeland for the safety of both Mother and Child. We praise God that as their faithful protector, you never hesitated to sacrifice for those entrusted to you. May your example inspire us also to welcome, cherish, and safeguard God’s most precious gift of life. Help us to faithfully commit ourselves to the service and defense of human life —especially where it is vulnerable or threatened. Obtain for us the grace to do the will of God in all things. Amen.

God bless,
Fr. John Mahoney

Next Sunday, October 3rd, is Respect Life Sunday. There will be prayer cards inserted next week in our bulletin with a prayer to St. Joseph, Defender of Life.

He was in Scotland afore ye!  For nearly 1,000 years Saint Andrew, the “first called” of the apostles, has been Scotland’s patron saint, and the Saltire or “Saint Andrew’s Cross,” an X-shaped cross on which Saint Andrew is said to have been martyred, is represented on the nation’s flag.  Traditions abound as to how exactly Scotland’s special connection with Saint Andrew came about.  One claims the saint’s relics were brought from Constantinople to Scotland under divine guidance.  Another says that during a battle with the English the Scottish king saw a cloud shaped like a Saltire and declared that Saint Andrew was watching over his troops. Whatever the case, rest assured that the gathering of the clan for Highland Games is a special celebration for the Scottish, near and far, and for all of us who wish to imitate Saint Andrew by following Jesus in our own lives.

Go mbeannai Dia Duit!
Fr. John Mahoney