From Aleteia.org

​St. Therese of Lisieux records in her autobiography, Story of a Soul, an interesting story from her early childhood. She writes about a dream she had when she was around three or four years old that involves two little devils.

I remember a dream I had at that age, which left a very deep impression: I was walking alone in the garden when suddenly I saw two horrible little devils near the arbor, dancing on a barrel of lime with amazing agility, in spite of having heavy irons on their feet. They looked at me with flaming eyes, then, as if overcome by fear, threw themselves in the twinkling of an eye to the bottom of the barrel. They escaped in some mysterious way and ran off to hide in the linen room, which opens onto the garden. When I saw how cowardly they were, I put my fears aside and went over to the window to see what they were up to. There the little wretches were, running round and round the table, and not knowing how to escape my gaze. From time to time they came nearer, still very agitated, to peep through the window; then, when they saw I was still there, they began racing about again in abject misery.

St. Therese never really understood the dream until later on in life, when its meaning became clear. She explains, “I do not suppose this dream was very extraordinary, but I do think God made use of it to show me that a soul in the state of grace need never be afraid of the devil, who is such a coward that even the gaze of a child will frighten him away.”

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Mass Schedule for All Saints Day: Holy Day of Obligation
Wednesday October 31st Vigil
6:30 pm St. Paul’s New Lisbon
Thursday November 1 All Saints Day
8:30 AM St. Paul in New Lisbon 6:30 PM St. Michael in Indian Creek

Friday November 2, All Souls Day
8:00 am St. Paul, New Lisbon (Extraordinary Form)
12:00 pm at St. Paul in New Lisbon
6:00 PM at St. James in Camp Douglas 

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Saint Paul
St. Paul’s Youth Group will be selling fresh cut wreaths for the Holiday season! Pre- orders will be taken over the next 3 weeks before and after Sunday Mass. Please prayerfully consider this fundraiser. All pro- ceeds will be used to help our youth partici- pate in the March for Life pilgrimage to Washington DC in January 2019. 


The Family Life Committee and CCD program are asking parishioners to donate a non-perishable food item for our local food pantry. Items can be placed in basket in entryway of church for the weekend of Oct. 21st and 28th. Please be generous to those less fortunate then us during the upcoming month. 
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Come sing with our St. Paul’s Church Choir and be involved with the church ministry. No experience is needed and all ages are welcome! The choir will meet at 9:00 am the first Sunday of each month. The choir offers everyone, young & old, the chance to lead the service in singing praise! 

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Saint Michael

Plan Ahead: Dec. 16 will be our Christmas Social hosted by our CCD students and our basket raffle. This has been a great money maker for PCCW and a lot of fun. Please consider to provide a gift Basket of any size and join us in the fun! 
​
Saint James


​Our Camp Douglas food pantry is in dire need of donations. Please con- sider bringing a few groceries and place them in the box at the entry of the church.

What is Halloween? Historically Halloween has Christian origins. It is the vigil of All Saints Day. “Saint” in old English was “hallow” meaning “holy.” It was called “All Hallows Eve.” It was a feast instituted by Pope Gregory III in the 730’s AD. It also coincided with the Celtic festival of Samhain, but there is no evidence that the Pope was even aware of such a festival. Over time, as Christianity spread to England and Ireland, some customs from the Celtic festival were “christened,” that is used to teach some facet of the faith. All Hallows Eve customs have grown and changed over time. Particularly in America with the arrival of Irish, Italian, and German immigrants.

The commercialization of Halloween, or turning it into a celebration of evil, is certainly a hi-jacking of a Christian holiday. Some have advocated celebrating “Harvest Festival” rather than Halloween. This, ironically, is more in line with the pagan festival. Let us reclaim Halloween for Christians, by returning to its roots in the Catholic Church by tying it explicitly to the Feast of All Saints.

What is a Saint?
The Catechism defines “saint” as: The “holy one” who leads a life in union with God through the grace of Christ and receives the reward of eternal life. The Church is called the communion of saints, of the holy ones.These are the men and women in heaven. Human beings to not become angels, those are a different order of creature. Human beings who, after passing from life, enter the joy of heaven are saints. The feast of All Saints commemorates all those who are in heaven but may not be universally known. All saints show us that in this present life, we can live a life in “union with God through the grace of Jesus Christ.”

What is all Souls Day?
All Souls Day is a solemn celebration in the Roman Catholic Church commemorating all of those who have died and are now in Purgatory, being cleansed of their venial sins and the temporal punishments for the mortal sins that they had confessed, and being made pure before entering into the presence of God in Heaven.

Praying for the dead is a Christian obligation. In the modern world, when many have come to doubt the church’s teaching on Purgatory, the need for such prayers has only increased. The Church devotes the month of November to All Souls, and participation in the Mass of All Souls Day is a good way to begin the month.

November 3 is the feast of St. Hubert, the patron saint of hunters. Good hunting 

Happy Halloween and All Saints Day and a blessed All Souls Day Father Robert Letona 

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From the Church:

​As many as 5,000 Salvadorans present in St. Peter’s Square cried, prayed, and expressed their joy at an event they were patiently waiting for, for the past 28 years.

The Pope referred to Paul VI as “a saint who lived amidst difficulties and misunderstandings” and to the new Central American saint as “the bishop of the poor:” “It is beautiful that, next to Paul VI and the other saints we recognize today, we find Monsignor Romero, who left the security of the world, including his own safety, to surrender his life to the Gospel, remaining close to the poor and his people.”

The same can be said of Francesco Spinelli, Vincenzo Romano, Maria Caterina Kasper, Nazaria Ignazia Saint Teresa of Jesus, and also of the 19-year-old from Naples, Nunzio Sulprizio, who was also canonized.


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From Aleteia.org

​Often ghosts are depicted in popular culture either as cute, cuddly creatures like Casper, the Friendly Ghost, or frightening beings that haunt a particular place or person. Yet in general, most people believe ghosts are objects of fiction, not real.

But what’s the truth about ghosts? Are they real? 

According to the Catholic Church, yes, ghosts are real, except the Church’s definition of ghosts is slightly different than the world’s view and includes three different types.

Holy ghosts

First of all, the word “ghost” is traditionally defined as “spirit.” In this respect, the Catholic Church heartily affirms that there is a spiritual world around us. These spirits are normally identified as “angels.”
 
Angels, similar to God, are pure “spirit” and do exist. It is a “truth of faith” and we are obligated to believe in them as Catholics.

Whenever an angel appears to someone in the Bible, the person might be afraid at first, but then the angel speaks and urges them not to be afraid. The angel appears to give a specific message of encouragement and to help a particular person draw closer to God. Their purpose is to lead a soul on the path that God has laid out for them in hopes of ultimately reaching eternal life.

Also, an angel does not seek to deceive and would not lurk around corners, trying to hide from someone. Their mission is very specific and often they give assistance without our even knowing they are an angel. At times they may take on a human appearance, but the way they look is not meant to scare or frighten, but to help us.

Deceptive demons

On the other hand, while there do exist good angels, there also exists bad angels....

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Sons of Zebedee in the Gospel this Sunday ask Jesus to do them a favor. Our Lord asks “What do you wish [me] to do for you?” (Mk 10:36) They replied “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” (Mk 10:37)
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They did not know what they were really asking for. They are thinking about the glory that the world gives, that is privilege, luxury, and power.

“But the road to Christ’s kingdom is by way of His cross. To share in His glory, we must be willing to drink the cup that He drinks.

The cup is an Old Testament image for God’s judgment. The wicked would be made to drink this cup in punishment for their sins (see Psalm 75:9; Jeremiah 25:15, Isaiah 51:17). But Jesus has come to drink this cup on behalf of all humanity. He has come to be baptized—which means plunged or immersed—into the sufferings we all deserve for our sins.

In this He will fulfill the task of Isaiah’s suffering servant, whom we read about in today’s First Reading.

Like Isaiah’s servant, the Son of Man will give His life as an offering for sin, as once Israel’s priests offered sacrifices for the sins of the people (see Leviticus 5:17-19).

Jesus is the heavenly high priest of all humanity, as we hear in today’s Epistle. Israel’s high priests offered the blood of goats and calves in the temple sanctuary. But Jesus entered the heavenly sanctuary with His own blood (see Hebrews 9:12).

And by bearing our guilt and offering His life to do the will of God, Jesus ransomed “the many”—paying the price to redeem humanity from spiritual slavery to sin and death.
He has delivered us from death, as we rejoice in today’s Psalm.

We need to hold fast to our confession of faith, as today’s Epistle exhorts us. We must look upon our trials and sufferings as our portion of the cup He promised to those who believe in Him (see Colossians 1:24). We must remember that we have been baptized into His passion and death (see Romans 6:3).

In confidence, let us approach the altar today, the throne of grace, at which we drink the cup of His saving blood (see Mark 14:23-24).” (Scott Hahn)

Thank you to all who have already responded to the Diocesan Annual Appeal, we still have a ways to go.
God bless you,
Father Robert Letona 

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From the Pope:

The 5th Commandment — do not kill — “rises up like a wall of defense” protecting the basic value in human relationships, the value of life. And a main breach of that Commandment is the taking of human life in the womb: abortion is like “hiring a hitman to solve a problem.”
This was Pope Francis’ observation today at the general audience, as he continued his catechesis series on the Ten Commandments.
“It could be said,” Francis observed, “that all the evil enacted in the world is summarized in this: disregard for life.”

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From Aleteia.org

​When reading a good spiritual book, especially one that details the life and practices of a saint, sometimes we may think that everything should be imitated. This can often leave us overwhelmed, thinking that this is the only path to sanctity.

Venerable Augustine Baker, a holy Benedictine monk of the 17th century, gave detailed suggestions on what to avoid when engaging in spiritual reading. These suggestions can help us look at spiritual books or articles from a different perspective, recognizing that each person is on a unique path to God and what works for another person doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for us.

Here are several of Baker’s suggestions as found in his book, Holy Wisdom.
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Saint Paul

The Family Life Committee and CCD program are asking parishioners to donate a non-perishable food item for our local food pantry. Items can be placed in basket in entryway of church for the weekend of Oct. 21st and 28th. Please be generous to those less fortunate then us during the upcoming month. 
​
Come sing with our St. Paul’s Church Choir and be involved with the church ministry. No experience is needed and all ages are welcome! The choir will meet at 9:00 am the first Sunday of each month. The choir offers everyone, young & old, the chance to lead the service in singing praise! 

​
Saint Michael

Plan Ahead: Dec. 16 will be our Christmas Social hosted by our CCD students and our basket raffle. This has been a great money maker for PCCW and a lot of fun. Please consider to provide a gift Basket of any size and join us in the fun! 
​
Saint James


​Our Camp Douglas food pantry is in dire need of donations. Please con- sider bringing a few groceries and place them in the box at the entry of the church.