Dear Brothers and Sisters of Holy Trinity Parish.

I pray that you are all doing well. In today’s Gospel, we hear about the great humility of the tax collector who recognized his own imperfections and sinfulness. He cried out to the Lord, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” And because of that great humility, contrite heart and openness to God’s grace, he went home justified. That, my friends, is the attitude that the Lord constantly invites us into every day in order to receive the justification to be given a place in our eternal

home – heaven.

This coming weekend (Oct. 31^st – Nov. 2^nd), we celebrate the great holy days of All Hallows Eve (Halloween), All Saints Day and All Souls day. On All Hallows Eve (Friday), we celebrate the victory of the saints over evil as we mock evil (if celebrated appropriately) because we know and believe Christ has triumphed over sin and death. On All Saints Day (Saturday), we celebrate the saints who are in heaven - men, women and children who faced the same temptations, difficulties and struggles of the world like we all do, but because of their virtuous and holy life have earned the crown of heaven. On All Souls Day (Sunday), we pray for the souls of our beloved dead, that they may be lifted up into heaven as a saint of God. I encourage all of us to celebrate these three days as a family, especially by coming to Mass and praying together as a family. All three of these days invite us to once again ask the question, “where is God leading me?” “what is God asking of me?” “how am I called to live my life because I will not be here forever?” With these questions in mind, it is then very fitting that we celebrate during the week of Nov. 2^nd, National Vocation Awareness Week.

God has a vocation, a calling for us all. The first is to be holy, a saint; the second, is how he wants us to help others become a saint – as a priest, a consecrated brother or sister, a husband or wife, or a consecrated single person. Those are the four vocations of the Church and within our parish community, God is calling each of us to one of them and we need all of them as a Church. As you know my previous ministry was as Director of Vocation and my current ministry is serving in the Office of the Vicar for Clergy, so I can’t help emphasize the need for priests to carry out the work of Jesus Christ especially through the Sacraments. Pray for more priests. Invite your sons, grandsons, Godsons, brothers to consider the priesthood. And if you are a single male, there should be an openness to it. The only way you will know is if you discern by honestly praying and asking God the question, “do you want me to be a priest of Jesus Christ?” And as God responds, do what He tells you.

Mary, Mother of the Church… pray for us.

In Christ,

Fr. Mike Perucho