Weekly Update October 4th ​ Saint André Bessette Parish Fall River - Enfield - Middle Musquodoboit “An Incense Free Parish” Mass times: Saturday   4:00 pm - Holy Cross Sunday    9:00 am - St. Bernard 11:00 am - St. Rose of Lima Sacrament of Reconciliation:  Holy Cross:    As needed upon request                                          St. Bernard:    1st Saturday of the month: 9:30 am to 10:30 am.                            (location: outside of present Confessional room) St. Rose:  2nd Saturday of the month: 9:30 am to 10:30 am.                           (location: room outside the bathrooms, i.e. the crying room) Sacrament of the Sick: The Sacrament of the Sick will be made available upon request for individuals, following appropriate safety procedures.  Present restrictions do not permit pastors going into the hospital to anoint sick parishioners. Communion to the Homebound/Sick is not permitted at this time.  Requests for viaticum (Communion for the dying) should be made to Fr. Michael. October 4, 2020 Dear Friends in Christ: Fall is now upon us and we are moving into more activity.  Let us pray we may all keep safe and discern the Lord’s way each day during this time of pandemic. THANK YOU DEACON CHRIS:  The celebration for the diaconal ministry of Deacon Chris Coffin at St. Rose of Lima will take place this weekend at the 11:00 am Sunday mass.  Cake will be served after mass! CHILDREN’S CATECHETICS:   Registration will take place in late October and details about this year’s program will be forthcoming once they are finalized. PARISH NEWSLETTER: A communications committee is being set up to oversee efforts to communicate with parishioners.  Included in its responsibilities will be the parish newsletter.  We will advise you on developments as they take place. MASS IN PERSON:  We continue to request that at the churches in Enfield and Fall River people register to indicate their wish to attend mass in person. Once you register, your name will remain on the list until you request its removal.  Please indicate how many people you are registering when you contact us.  You will be notified only if there is not room for you the following weekend.  Names will be accepted for the following weekend up until 10:00 am the Thursday before the weekend. If you wish to attend mass at St. Rose please contact Linda at 902-860-0475 or strose@eastlink.ca If you wish to attend mass at St. Bernard please contact Claire at 902-883-2660 or stbernardsenfield@gmail.com. Numbers at Holy Cross are limited to 24 and are sufficient for that church. MASS LIVE STREAMED:  We are pleased to announce that starting this weekend we will live stream the 11:00 am mass at St. Rose of Lima.  Look for it on Facebook at St. André Bessette Parish or go to our parish website strosefallriver.com and click on the live mass link/box.   SLIDE MINISTRY AND COMPUTER OPERATORS:  We are looking for volunteers to operate the computer for the live streamed mass from St. Rose and for people to operate the slides during mass.  The Slide Ministry would be an excellent way for our younger parishioners to be involved in the liturgy.  Please contact Phil Francis or leave your name at the St. Rose Church Office 902-860-0475. BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS will be celebrated at 2:00 pm on Sunday October 4 at Anglican Christ Church Lantz (side lawn).  All are welcome. ORDINATION ANNIVERSARY:  Thank you for the expressions of support and the celebrations that took place at all the masses at which I was present last weekend.  An anniversary that I expected to be observed in a quiet COVID fashion took on special joy for me with the ways many people arranged to celebrate it. MASKS:  Please be reminded that wearing a mask is now required for all indoor gatherings. Only those who are speaking (readers, singers, priest, deacon) may do so without a mask.  Communion ministers will wear a mask during the distribution of communion. ​ During this time of pandemic let us continue to pray for one another, find ways to care for one another, and do the best we can during the current COVID-19 pandemic.   Yours in Christ, Fr. Michael J. P. Walsh, Pastor  Homily - 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A October 4, 2020 Is there anyone among us who doesn’t like a story? Story-tellers have a way of tweaking our attention and drawing us in. Stories engage our imagination, hopes and desires. Stories make us laugh and cry.  Besides their value as entertainment, stories can also be effective teaching tools; stories create a safe distance, a vantage point, from which the hearer may examine and accept a truth which he/she may have otherwise rejected. In today’s first reading and gospel, both authors couched a serious message within the context of a story. Isaiah had delivered a ballad which told a story of a loving and caring vineyard owner.  Isaiah portrayed the owner as a conscientious person who could not do enough for the vines he had planted and yet the crop had failed to produce good grapes. Only at the end of the song and with his listeners, held in rapt attention, did the prophet drive home his point. Israel was the vine; The Lord the vine dresser. The story recalled God’s countless overtures of love as it confronted Israel with its history of inadequate responses to that love. Isaiah’s love song continues to invite believers to reflect on the numerous divine gifts that have been such an important part of their lives. How have these many blessings been met? How has God’s goodness to me been reflected in my relationships with other people? If some change is warranted, then, today is the day to begin. Paul Harvey, was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio.  He broadcast News and Comment on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous The Rest of the Story segments. From 1952 to 2008, his programs reached as many as 24 million people per week. This long-running staple of talk radio usually begins with some well known person or event and then continues to reveal additional, lesser known but very poignant information. At the conclusion of his feature, Harvey’s pleasant voice intones the familiar phrase: “and now you know the rest of the story!”  When Jesus in today’s gospel began the familiar story about a vineyard owner, who planted vines, hedged them in, dug a vat and erected a tower, his listeners, no doubt, recognized the centuries old familiar ballad of Isaiah we heard in the first reading.  But then, in a style not unlike Paul Harvey’s, the parable went on to tell the rest of the story. The vineyard is clearly Israel, the tenant farmer are Israel’s leaders, the chief priests and elders to whom the parable was addressed. God is the vineyard owner and the two groups of slaves represent the prophets of both Hebrew and Christian tradition who endeavoured to keep the vineyard “fruitful”.  The son, sent as a last resort, is Jesus.  It is significant that the parable specifies that the son was dragged outside the vineyard and killed. This reference was to remind the readers of the parable of the death of Jesus who was crucified outside the city of Jerusalem.  A further indication of the early church’s involvement in this story is the decision of the vineyard owner to lease his vineyard to new tenants.  By the resurrection, God has vindicated him and made him the cornerstone of a new structure, the new “people of God”. Included among this new people of God will be anyone (tax-collectors, prostitutes, gentiles, etc.), who welcomes the attentive care of the vineyard owner by responding to his servants and receiving his son with honour and love. The pages of this saving saga are still being written; when the “rest of the story” is finally known, what words will best describe your role?  What kind of life will we choose from now on? The future is what counts; what kind of disciples are we going to be?  No matter what has happened in our lives in the past, from now on, we will be able to live our future well.  We can recognize that perhaps we have not done as well as we should have, but now it is different. Today is where we begin, the conclusion is still unwritten, and we are beginning to write it now.  What will the end of the story be for us? -- Rev. Michael J. P. Walsh