November 5, 2023

Thirty-first sunday of ordinary time

by Fr. Boniface Endorf, OP

Dear St. Joseph Parish Family,

This Tuesday we celebrate All Dominican Saints and on Wednesday All Dominican Souls. Dominicans always celebrate these feasts a week after All Saints and All Souls Days. It’s good to pray for those we’ve loved who’ve passed on and you can always have a Mass offered for your loved ones. Just contact the parish office to have a Mass offered. It’s a great way to help those we’ve loved.

God Bless,
Fr. Boniface

Mass Tidbit:

We now have the 2nd long list of names in the Eucharistic Prayer. It continues “with John the Baptist, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas…” We all know who John the Baptist is, so we’ll start with Stephen:

Stephen: One of the first deacons (Acts 6:5) and the protomartyr (first martyr after Christ). He was martyred by stoning and St. Paul (then Saul) was there just before his conversion. St. Stephen gave a long speech just before his death that’s recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. You can read about his arrest, speech, and death in Acts 6-7. The site of his martyrdom is now St. Stephen Church in Jerusalem and is a Dominican Church that also houses an important Scripture School, also run by the Dominicans, the École Biblique. St. Stephen’s feast day is December 26th, the day after Christmas, because he was the first to follow Christ in martyrdom.

Matthias: The man chosen to be the replacement Apostle for Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:12-26). Little is known about St. Matthias except that he died a martyr.

Barnabas: An Apostle, although, like St. Paul, not one of the original twelve. Barnabas labored with St. Paul for the conversion of the Gentiles, even convincing St. Paul to go to Antioch for that purpose. Barnabas is mentioned throughout the Acts of the Apostles for his work of evangelization. St. Luke, who wrote the Acts of the Apostles, broke his usual reserve and described Barnabas as “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.” (Acts 11:24)