Greetings from the National Shrine
of St. Maximilian Kolbe.

Dear Friends,
 
You feel it in the chill of crisp, clean air.  You see it in the varied hues of the turning leaves.  The days are growing shorter and the nights longer.  Yes indeed, it is autumn!

Autumn is probably my favorite time of the year although I don’t like to think about what it ushers in!  I’ll just let autumn be autumn and stand on its own.  The crisp cool air of autumn almost seems to invite me to getting moving a little faster, with a little more spring in my step after the heat of the dog days of summer.  It’s time to move a bit more.  Perhaps there is a sense of urgency as we see the daylight moments growing shorter.  We have to move along to get all the work done!

But even though there might be a new sense of urgency, I hope that you take the time to enjoy what this moment in the year brings to us.  Pause and look around.  Take a big deep breath.  Thank God for this moment!

I just returned from a few days of silent retreat followed by some time with my folks.  It was good to be silent and just relax and pray and then later to visit.  We get so busy that we don’t even realize that we are missing so much – so many signs of God’s presence to us.  So during these Fall days, I hope you have to time to just “be” be still, be aware, be present to the moment.  If you do so, I bet you will find God!

Happy Autumn!

In Christ and His Blessed Mother,

           Fr. Stephen

           frstephen@marytown.com

  Rector of the National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe