Good saints or saints-to- be of St Bede,

Reminder:  Drive-by Blessing of Animals  Saturday 10:00-11:00.  
 
There have been questions about registering for Sunday Masses and why we do that. It is not for contact tracing any longer. As more and more parishioners are thinking of coming back, we want you to have a seat and not have to turn you away at the door…after you have dressed, driven, and made your way into the circle out front of the church. It's far easier to learn that a mass is at capacity from the website- where you have an opportunity to sign up for mass at another time- than to discover, at the door, that we are at capacity.

We are in the last days of the Octave of Service that is part of our Diocese’s bicentennial Celebration. We hope you are learning something new from the wonderful posts on the works of justice and mercy and what our parish is doing and how you can be part of it. These posts have been crafted by Brittney Kinstetter and Nicole Lancour.  If you missed their posts you will find them on the Saint Bede website. Sunday’s post introduced us to the Octave of Mercy. 
There are also a number of concrete and immediate ways you and your family can also participate in the Octave by considering one or two of the following acts of service (“your gift”) for those in need among us and/or around us :
  1. Bring a bag of nonperishable food for The Williamsburg House of Mercy for their daily distribution of food
  2. Buy a $25 gift card to Food Lion for the food basket distribution at Thanksgiving.
  3. Make or buy a card or spiritual bouquet to encourage a parishioner who is sick, homebound, or alone and assure them of your thoughts and prayers. THIS IS A DOABLE ACT OF SERVICE FOR FAMILIES.
  4. Bring baby diapers size 5 and 6 for the daily distribution at WHOM. Diapers are in high demand
  5. Bring baby and maternity items for the October baby shower for Hope Pregnancy (You will see a Pack N Play all this month in the Commons sponsored by the Friends for Life).  
We ask that you bring “your gift with you to mass this weekend. Boxes will be available. For those not with us in person yet, you can drop your gift in the collection Boxes in the nave sometime this weekend.

Also, this Sunday is the annual Life Chain event from 2-3:15 pm at the intersection of Centerville and Richmond Rds. Join others in the community in this peaceful, prayerful, public, and Pro-Life witness on behalf of the unborn.  

Mark your Calendars:  

Jeffrey Caruso, JD, Executive Director of the Virginia Catholic Conference, the legislative advocacy arm of the Virginia Dioceses, will be on the Clergy Live from the Couch on October 10.  
We invite you to send your questions about the upcoming election, forming consciences voting, advocacy, or the work of VCC to Fr Baab who will forward them to Jeff.  Deadline: Friday, October 9.  
Well, that’s more than enough for one update! Persevere, keep the faith, and thanks for your patience and prayers.  



To register for this weekend's Mass, click here.