It is hard to believe it is already October, but I guess the drop in temperature proves it. I have had to change the a/c at church to heat, so if you come to church you will be warm. The Annual Bishop's Appeal is running. The Bishop sent a letter to every register household in the diocese explaining the process which is a little different due to the virus. His office told me they sent out 45,000 appeal letters, so some are coming later than others. I received mine yesterday, so all of them should be in the mail, if not already arrived. The envelope contains a letter from the Bishop, a pledge card, an envelope to send or bring the card and pledge to St. Augustine, and a pamphlet showing the costs to the diocese and how to donate on line. If you donate on line please remember to mention St. Augustine, since our assigned goal is almost $11,000.00. Please be generous. Anything over our goal is returned to the parish. If we don't make our goal, the parish is billed for it.
Once again I want to thank all of you who continue to remember our parish in your prayers and especially those who continue to mail in contributions to the parish or contribute on line. Every contribution is really appreciated, especially when I pay the bills that continue to come in, and as you know the bills keep on coming. We continue to have both Masses on Sunday, 8:15 and 10:30 AM. Cheryl Ashe has been trying to video our 10:30 but has run into problems each week with running the camera. Hopefully, the problems will work themselves out soon. Faith in Indiana at St. Augustine still meets by zoom. The Soup Kitchen is still open MWF. We could use some volunteers on Wednesday. St. Vincent de Paul still delivers food to shut-ins. Deacon Mel is starting a Confirmation Class. If you need a Sacrament of Initiation, baptism, first communion or confirmation, please contact him or me. Our Good Shepard program will be contacting the parents of the children with options. So, we keep on keeping on.
October 4 is the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary time. Our first reading from the Prophet Isaiah and our Gospel have the parables of the vineyard. I think this image is really reinforced given all the fires in the Napa Valley in California. In both readings the vineyard is the People of God. God is the vineyard owner who cares for his people, but sometimes his people turn away from him through sin and the vineyard has real trouble, even to the point of God turning over the vineyard to a new people. In the Gospel, God sends his servants, the prophets, to help the people do good, but the sinners turn them away. Finally God sends his son, Jesus, who is rejected by the leaders and killed on the cross. So, God offers the vineyard to a new people, the Church. However, the last line applies to the Church, too, "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce fruit." Let us continue to produce good fruit for the Lord. Let us listen to Paul in our second reading: "Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you.
Congratulations to Micah and Jillian on the baptism of John Lark Towery this past Friday. All the Friday Soup Kitchen Crew participated in the baptism.