All Saints

Today is the feast of All Saints. This morning’s walk to St. Philomena’s was more arduous than normal as I had to lean into a twenty mile an hour headwind. Following the twenty minute walk from my home to the church  I was greeted by Fr. Robert Marino. Along with Fr. Marino I spotted many friends and others I have not met yet. One thing that impressed me was the number of congregation this morning. Here at 9:00 am in a small village in the foothills of the Alleganies were nearly one-hundred of the faithful. The altar was adorned with the fruits of the harvest and included several pumpkins. I have been attending Mass at St. Philomena’s occasionally for the last thirty-five years and never have I seen such beauty.  The parish is growing and that’s palpable. There can be no doubt that Fr. Marino has captured the imagination of the community. Fr. Marino’s homily was a story of his own grandmother and the role she played in his vocation as a priest but more than that her  embodiment of what it means to be a saint. His homily reminded me of a quote from Mother Teresa, ““Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”