Weekly Newsletter

For the Week of Sunday, November 6

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Birthday Reflections

Pastor's Letter by Fr. Vincent Gilmore, Nov. 6, 2022

Dear Parishioners,

This Wednesday I am having a significant birthday, I will be turning 60. As Cathy Priddy put it, “The Sixties are the youth of old age.” Moving into another decade of life on earth always gives pause for reflection. To think about the gift of life itself, where it came from and where it is going.

Almighty God is the origin of all life and my parents who participated in giving me the gift of life. My mother who formed me in her womb and loved me and my twin brother even before we were born. And the love she gave us didn’t stop. It was a gift of having seven siblings and growing up at a time that was relatively carefree. Growing up in a time free of computers and cellphones where we actually interacted with nature and built and destroyed things was a blessing. I feel so blessed to have grown up at the time when I did.

I feel so blessed to grow up in a family where the faith in Jesus was central to our life. Sunday worship and rosary as a family was who we were. My vocation to the priesthood I owe to my family and the way I was raised. My parents taught us a belief in God, a strong work ethic and the difference between right and wrong. I feel also blessed to have been raised in the family I was, in this country and in Eastern Washington.

Looking back in my memories I can see only blessings and gratitude. Even the challenges and difficulties had their place and reason, mostly to trust more deeply in the hand of God guiding my life. The good Lord has surrounded my life with so much love, support and friendship.

And once I pass 60 I can say for sure that I am no longer “middle aged” and definitely on the back side of life. The journey, the pilgrimage, is going to one place: the grave and eternal life. I am happy to be closer to death because I am not afraid of death. I know Our Lord and his mother will be there to greet me when I close my eyes to this life and wake up into eternity. I look forward to what awaits me in eternity, it can only be amazingly good because we have a good and loving God who promises as St. Paul says, “Eye has not seen nor ear heard what God has prepared for those who love him.”

Fr. Vincent sent a quick update of his pilgrimage on Tuesday, Nov. 1:

We are in Sienna. It is a very beautiful town. We have walked over 100 miles so far. We walked through a famous wine region that makes Brunello wine from Sangiovese grapes (pictured below). The weather has been sunny and nice but rain may come by the end of the week. (More pictures were shared through Flocknotes - see past newsletters at www.chewelahcatholic.org)

Community Thanksgiving Dinner

Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022, 4 pm, St. Mary's

The Chewelah Faith Resource Group, an ecumenical group consisting of representatives from several local faith and resource organizations, will be hosting a community Thanksgiving dinner at St. Mary of the Rosary on Thursday, Nov. 10 beginning at 4 p.m. The entire community is invited to enjoy a free meal full of all the traditional Thanksgiving favorites. Please come or let us know if you would like to volunteer in any way. There's volunteers needed for set up, serving, dishes, and clean up. Donations are also welcome! Contact the office by email or phone to help. See you there!

In Remembrance: Maggie Owens

Long-time parishioner Maggie Owens passed away on October 10 at age 92. Maggie was baptized and celebrated all of her sacraments at St. Mary of the Rosary. She was strong in her faith and parish community. She prayed the Rosary everyday. Maggie regularly attended mass, never missing a Sunday until March 2020 during the COVID pandemic had her watching mass at home each week. She has participated in many church functions, providing food for funeral dinners, helping with soup suppers, and helping give rides to people who couldn't drive themselves to mass. There will be a Funeral Mass for Maggie Owens on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 11 a.m. at St. Mary of the Rosary with Fr. Pat Kerst as celebrant. There will be also be an interment at St. Mary's Cemetery immediately following and a luncheon provided by our parish in St. Mary's Parish Hall. All are welcome to join.

There will also be a rosary vigil for Maggie on Monday, Nov. 7 at 7 pm at St. Mary's. All are welcome.

Welcome Fr. Mark!

Thank you Fr. Mark Pautler for celebrating masses and hearing confession with us this weekend (Saturday, Nov. 5 and Sunday, Nov. 6)! There are still no weekday masses or confessions this coming week but Eucharistic Adoration will be Friday, Nov. 11 from 9-10 a.m. Fr. Vincent will be back to celebrate masses with us next weekend, Nov. 12 and 13. Check the Colville mass schedule for weekday masses this week.

Immaculate Conception, Colville Mass Schedule

Upcoming This Week

St. Mary's Coffee and Donuts

Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022, 11 am, St. Mary's

There will be coffee and donuts this week after 10 a.m. mass in Chewelah. There will also be coffee and donuts Nov. 13 and Nov. 20. Please join us!

Funeral Mass for Maggie Owens

Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, 11 am, St. Mary's

Long-time parishioner Maggie Owens passed away recently. There will be a Funeral Mass for her on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 11 am. There will be also an interment at St. Mary's Cemetery immediately following and a luncheon provided by our parish in St. Mary's Parish Hall. There will also be a rosary vigil for Maggie on Monday, Nov. 7 at 7 pm at St. Mary's. All are welcome.

All-Parish Faith Night

Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022, 6 pm, St. Mary's

Please join us for dinner at 6 pm with faith formation classes (for all ages) starting at 6:30 pm every Wednesday. This week Matt Cobb will be having another session on his series about Deep Conversion/Deep Prayer. It is based on a series produced by EWTN from Fr. Thomas Dubay. There is no Wednesday mass or confession while Father is away, however, this week there will be confession on Saturday with Fr. Mark Pautler. This week's Faith Night menu is Pizza!

Community Thanksgiving Dinner

Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022, 4 pm, St. Mary's

Please see above announcement for more information.

Be Thankful Potluck Breakfast at Holy Ghost

Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, 9 am, Holy Ghost, Valley

Holy Ghost Parish in Valley is hosting a "Be Thankful" potluck breakfast next Sunday,

Nov. 13 at Holy Ghost after 8 a.m. mass. Please bring something to share and come enjoy fellowship with other parishioners in this month of Thanksgiving.

Ladies Auxiliary Crystalline Luncheon

Only two weeks left! Saturday, November 19

There's only 2 weeks left until the Annual Crystalline Luncheon on Nov. 19 at St. Mary's! Let us know if you can provide a dessert or need a seat! We can also take donations for door prizes and raffle prizes. Contact Kellie in the office! Thank you!

TABLE HOSTS

For all our generous table hosts, please let Kellie know when you will be setting up on Friday, Nov. 18 and provide a copy of a description of your table for the program as soon as you can. Thank you!

Annual Catholic Appeal 2022

Our Parish Goals

St. Mary's $23,225 | Holy Ghost $5,675 | Sacred Heart $2,746

11/2/22 Update

St. Mary's: $13,881 (Goal $23,225)

Holy Ghost: $6,325 (Goal $5,675)

Sacred heart: $800 (Goal $2,746)

Please mail in your envelopes or put them

in the collection basket. You can also donate at dioceseofspokane.org.

Donate Now!

Local Online Giving Makes Donating Easy

Supporting your Parish has been made simpler with the start of the Online Giving portal for the Catholic Parishes of South Stevens County (St. Mary of the Rosary, Holy Ghost, St. Joseph, and Sacred Heart)! Are you tired of fishing for cash or fiddling with having to write a check …. you can now contribute to the Parish you choose and even identify a particular fund to which your contribution will go …. all with a couple of clicks on your computer or smartphone. You can even set up recurring donations so you can set up your desired donation amount and the frequency of the contribution and, if you prefer, you can use a credit card as a matter of convenience. Give it a try. Getting to the portal is easy. Go to www.osvhub.com/chewelahcatholic/giving/funds, click on the Online Giving link below. Once there, you’ll find eleven separate fund choices - 4 unrestricted with donations identified by parish, 6 restricted (4 for parish building fund donations and 2 for cemetery fund maintenance donations) and 1 for anyone who wishes to use our online giving site to give to the ACA through our parish collection process. Each is reported separately to facilitate both segregation into the correct bank accounts and related QuickBooks ledger accounts and to easily identify ACA contributions to be forwarded to the Diocese.

Give directly to our parishes online! CLICK HERE