Next weekend begins October … and the stores are full of Halloween decorations. It is a sad commentary that now many people spend more money and time decorating for Halloween than for Christmas. Do we celebrate fear and evil more than we celebrate blessings and saints? Remember, the day after Halloween is the Feast of All Saints, which is a Holy Day of Obligation to attend Mass.

I have some great news! First of all, in the past two years, we had 194 new families register in our parish. Welcome to all of you and we are so happy to have you. Thank you for registering. I hope you can attend some of the events this year so you can get to know other parishioners.

Secondly, as of September 2, the cost for our parish magazine is down to $275 per month. Thank you to all of our advertisers, just a few more and the magazine will be free for the parish! Also, thank you Ryan and our staff members who solicit ads.

One of the comments I hear from visitors and new members is that we are a very welcoming community. What a great reputation to have! I want to thank all of you, especially our greeters outside and our ushers inside who make everyone feel so special.

Our “part-time” members will be returning soon. Please make them feel important to us as well. I always look forward to this time of year as they return to us and help us worship our wonderful God.

I hope that you are all enjoying our parish magazine, Clairvaux Community Life. If you are not receiving it please call Nancy or Ryan in the office to be sure you are registered and we have the correct address for you. We recently took a survey of your reactions and it was very positive. Almost 70% rated it excellent or good and over 70% said they read every issue.