Weekly Update from Fr. van Dooren 10.23.26

Dear members and friends of our parish family,
 
Blessings to you this fall Friday, and I want to begin my update with a note of sincere appreciation for your prayers this past Sunday.  I’m feeling much better and looking forward to celebrating this Sunday.  Special thanks to Fr. Patrick who stepped in so lovingly, and to Dr. Chanmi who preached!  
 
This upcoming Sunday promises many deep blessings!  We have as the Gospel passage the famous question posed to Jesus, “What is the greatest Commandment?” Forever, we have his reply etched on the tablet of our hearts: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like unto it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:34-46).
 
Our guest preacher for this Sunday hails from the north….the far north!  Fr. Aaron Solberg serves St. John's Anglican Church in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, in the Diocese of the Arctic.  He considers his ministry to be a shared ministry with his wife and two small children.  He is also the cousin, twice removed, of our beloved assisting priest, Fr. Platt!
 
Join us this Sunday, October 25th at 4:00pm for our Octoberfest Concert, a delightful afternoon of comic cantatas and Gemütlichkeit featuring J.S. Bach's Coffee Cantata (Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht, BWV 211) and G.F. Telemann Der Schulmeister (The School Master) with members of the Transfiguration Boys & Girls Choir, Sam Strickland, Berit Johnson and Dominick Matsko, Period Instrument Ensemble, Claudia Dumschat, harpsichord and conductor. Tickets are $25 / $15 for students and seniors and can be purchased online here. 

At this Octoberfest concert, our choir will be holding a raffle for Starbucks gift cards! Four lucky winners will receive one of the following: $50 gift card (2 available) or $100 gift card (2 available). Raffle tickets will be sold for $5 per 1 ticket and $20 for 5 tickets.  All proceeds will benefit the choir. The winners do not need to be present to win! Please see a choir parent if you would like to purchase tickets. 
 
We are continuing our annual Pledge/Stewardship campaign for the upcoming fiscal year, 2027.  Thank you   all who have already make your pledge commitment!  Click here to view our pledge site and for the link the form. Printed copies of the form are available in the back of the church. We hope to end the campaign by Christ the King Sunday, Nov. 22nd.  
 
We will celebrate the feast of All Saints on its “fixed date” on Sunday, November 1st at our 8:30 am said mass and our 11 am solemn mass. And then on Monday, November 2nd, we will commemorate the Feast of All Souls in honor of the Faithful Departed on its fixed date with a said mass at 12:10 pm. Please click here to contact office with names of the departed, which will be placed before the altar and remembered at the intentions of the All Souls mass. 
 
The Bishop of New York, The Rt. Rev. Matthew Heyd, will make his first visitation to Transfiguration on Sunday November 15th. Please save the date and plan to attend.  

Thank you so dearly for the outpouring of generosity and response to our restoration of the St. Joseph of Arimathea Chapel.   How privileged we are to have stewardship of this treasured and historical space!  Scaffolding is up, and the large Transfiguration window will soon be removed for restoration.  So we’ll look a little ragged for the winter months before the dazzling completion.  Click here to read more about this current project. 
 
The Holy Rosary will be prayed in the Family chapel at 9:30am this Sunday.  We will pray the glorious mysteries this Sunday.       

We continue to live-stream each Sunday’s mass at 11:00am, and a link is sent out each Sunday morning at 8:00am.  We live-stream on Facebook and YouTube. Please email the parish office (parishoffice@littlechurch.org) if you would like to pray the morning and evening offices with us by Zoom. 

Thank you for your continued faith, support, and love for the parish.  

Fides Opera

With loving wishes,
Fr. van Dooren