Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 27, 2025 Column Father De Celles
“Parish/Town Hall Meetings.” Last month I announced that we would have a parish-wide meeting to discuss the future of the Parish—a “Parish/Town Hall Meeting.” So I’ve scheduled two of these meetings, one on Saturday morning, October 11 after the 9 am Mass, and the other on Thursday evening, October 16 at 6:30 pm, both in the Parish Hall. The meetings are alternatives to each other, covering the same ground, so choose one or the other, whichever is most convenient.
The purpose of these meetings would be not to discuss so much the spiritual and formation aspects of the parish, but to discuss your hopes and ideas for physical plant of the parish. For example, I’ve often wondered if we need more space for meetings, classrooms, etc., i.e., should we build another building? Did you know that a third building (in addition to the church and rectory) was part of the early construction plans for the physical plant, as “phase two.” Let’s be clear, building construction would be a cross for me, but…maybe there’s a need to build…I can carry that cross, with your help.
We can also discuss beautifying the facilities by adding landscaping, flowers, and/or sculptures/shrines to the grounds. Or perhaps extend our efforts to beauty the interior church. And perhaps I can get some ideas from you about how to pay for any improvements.
The format will be largely informal, and I will invite you to actively participate in discussions. There is no need to rsvp, but I would truly appreciate you sending me any suggestions for the meeting. You can email me at fdc@straymonds.org.
DAILY ROSARY. This Wednesday we begin the month of October which the Church keeps as the “Month of the Rosary.” In her various apparitions, the Blessed Mother has repeatedly begged us to pray the Rosary, an exhortation echoed by Popes and Saints for centuries. And one of the best ways to pray the Rosary is as a family—it can be a tremendous blessing.
With this in mind, three years ago we started the practice of having a public Daily Family Rosary in our church, every 6:30pm Monday to Friday, and Sunday – Saturday a few minutes after the 9am Mass.
Of course, everyone is invited to pray, but I call it the “FAMILY ROSARY” because I want it to be led by one family praying together, and leading others. Lately we’ve been struggling to find families who will volunteer to do this, and resort to having the same few families lead week after week.
So, I ask every father or mother of a young family to volunteer his/her family to lead this Rosary one evening a month. This is a great way to teach your children to pray and to not be afraid to pray publicly. It’s very easy to sign up your family: just go to the parish website (straymonds.org) and on the pop-up menu (“Important Announcements”) click on the link for the “OCTOBER DAILY FAMILY ROSARY,” which leads to SignUpGenius.
Memorial Service. Some of you have mentioned to me that you saw and were inspired by the “Memorial Service” held on for Charlie Kirk last Saturday. It was something else. So I wasn’t surprised when someone asked me, “why aren’t Catholic Funerals more like that?” An excellent question.
What we saw on Saturday was not a Funeral, but a Memorial Service. Simply put, the two fundamental differences between the two are that 1) a Funeral takes place in the presence of the body of the deceased and 2) focuses on ritual prayer, while a memorial service 1) takes place without the body present and 2) emphasizes remembering and honoring the deceased. A Catholic Funeral is particularly about prayer for the deceased, that they may be purified quickly in Purgatory and gain their place in glory in heaven.
Catholics are free to have Memorial Services, and often do. Sometimes that becomes the function of the Wake or Viewing the night before or the Reception after the Funeral Mass and Burial. At these gatherings folks can share stories and honor the deceased in a relaxed way, and not be concerned about decorum or the reverence due at Mass.
It is true that the priest can permit “words of remembrance” (sometimes called a “eulogy”) by a family member or friend at a Funeral Mass. When I was a young priest I used to allow this practice, but over the years I experienced too many speakers, even very good Catholics, get caught up in the moment and say things that, while perhaps okay at a Memorial Service, were not at all appropriate at a Mass. How many times did I give a Funeral homily about praying for the dead, only to have a family member disagree with me in their eulogy: “I know he’s in Heaven,” or even, “there is no Purgatory.” At one Mass, decades ago, I heard one priest eulogize another priest saying, “he was kinda guy who would bail his brother priest out of jail in the middle of the night.” Scandalous anywhere, but especially at Mass.
So I haven’t allowed eulogies at Funeral Masses for years, but I DO encourage families to have some opportunity for family and friends to honor the deceased, e.g. at the Wake, Reception or Memorial Service. A Memorial Service might be something to consider as a follow up to the Funeral Mass, especially if there are a lot of non-Catholics who might not feel the need to pray for the deceased at Mass, but would like to come to the Memorial Service (or wake or reception) to simply honor the deceased. Just an idea.
Cardinal Müller Interview. Recently Cardinal Gerhard Müller gave a very interesting interview to Diane Montagna covering a wide range of interesting topics (the link is too long to put here, but easy to find on the internet). Consider one of his answers:
Question: “[W]ould [you] put wokeism on the same level as communism? Answer: “Yes, I view it as a continuation of the Marxist understanding of man. According to Marx, we are not persons with an immortal soul capable, through grace, of living in a personal relationship with God, our Creator. Rather, we are seen as dependent on a political party or ideological group—or on the determinations of organizations such as the World Economic Forum—to define the nature of man. An elite few decide what human dignity is, and the masses are expected to obey and conform to everything they dictate. This is completely destructive.
“Wokeism is part of an ideological wave that opposes personal identity, the body—male and female—, stable family relationships, distinct cultures and languages, history, and the normal stable relationships that are part of being human.
“It is, in essence, a continuation of the old Marxism. While it does not operate as an official political party, it has well-organized pressure groups everywhere—in the European Union, in the United States through the Deep State, in mass media, social media, and universities. These groups are highly oppressive, militant, and aggressive toward anyone who does not conform to their thought.”
Oremus pro invicem. Fr. De Celles