Confirmations, Blessed Carlo Acutis
Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Francis Parish,
Fall is here and we even got some much-needed rain, though we still need a lot more.
Tonight, we have Confirmation, eleven teenagers and two adults. Won’t be like usual, but it will be fine. Pictures in next RT.
Our special prayers for those who have C 19, especially our President and First Lady. C 19 spares no one. Let us hope and pray their recovery is quick.
The hall is still not 100 % back to normal, but you can clearly see the floor.
This Saturday we begin the 4:00 pm mass and we also have the abbreviated St. Francis Dinner this year with grinders. I love grinders.
Art Wright is being recognized for being such a soldier like cross bearer. C 19 has affected so many activities and caused so many to be cancelled or radically changed. This too will pass someday.
Also, on Saturday we will have a Fatima Novena with rosary at 10:00 am and Mass beginning at 10:30 am. At noontime we will have blessing of animals. I will be around all afternoon, so if you can’t make noon, let me know. Also, if Sunday is better for you before or after the masses, let me know. Where would we be without our furry and feathered friends?
Thank you again for keeping up with your parish donations. Your continued support is so important during this crazy time. Thank you also for donations to me to help my group of needy people here in Middletown. I often wonder how they get through a day.
Two dioceses have declared bankruptcy on the same day, Camden, NJ and Rockville Center, Long Island, NY. The same three reasons lately, more lawsuits, decreased income due to C 19 and higher payouts for older lawsuits. A really ugly picture.
My Italian is getting better, I think. I am certainly more comfortable with most of the mass, which is repeated daily. Still, some words are very challenging. When I become the Pope in two years, I will need to have a working knowledge of Italian.
Saints come in all shapes and sizes. Who was Carlo Acutis?
Carlo Acutis was born May 3, 1991, in London, where his parents were working. Just a few months later, his parents, Andrea Acutis and Antonia Salzano, moved to Milan.
As a teenager, Carlo was diagnosed with leukemia. He offered his sufferings for Pope Benedict XVI and for the Church, saying “”I offer all the suffering I will have to suffer for the Lord, for the Pope, and the Church.” He died on Oct. 12, 2006, and was buried in Assisi, at his request, because of his love for St. Francis of Assisi.
His cause for canonization began in 2013. He was designated “Venerable” in 2018 and will be designated “Blessed” October 10. He will be beatified Oct. 10 in Assisi.
Acutis, a gamer and computer programmer who loved soccer and the Eucharist, has been the subject of interest around the world. For more information, google his name.
