Pastor’s Desk ~ November 9, 2025

Dear Fellow Parishioners,

This Pastor’s Desk will be a collection of smaller items I hope you will find of interest.

The October Mass Count has been tabulated, and I’m happy to tell you that for several years in a row, our Mass attendance has continued to grow, both at the English and Spanish Masses. It confirms my intuition that there are a number of young families who have joined us – so much so that there is a play group after the 9:00 a.m. Mass on the fourth Sunday of the month in the plaza and Triangle Park.

Pierre Robert. While the former St. Vincent High School is now operating independently of this parish, we can continue to feel pride in the school and the graduates we sustained for over a hundred years. You can never know how far a SV High School graduate can go. Pierre was no exception. He graduated in (if memory serves) in 1973. We were in school together for a year.  He was a free spirit and expansive personality destined to do interesting things. And he did. A few years after graduation, he moved to Philadelphia, was DJ at a rock station for over 40 years, and in time became one of the most recognized and best-loved figures in the city. His funeral, a civic event, was held at the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philly. Even some of the priest-concelebrants were dabbing their tears. RIP at 70.

Veterans’ Day is nearly unique in that, as a Federal holiday, it is not shifted to a 3-day weekend, but is celebrated on November 11, to commemorate the signing of the Armistice at 11:00 a.m. local time that morning that ended World War I. The eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month. At the urging of several veterans’ associations, the observance was expanded in 1954 to include all veterans. It is distinct from Memorial Day, which has its roots in the American Civil War, and honors those who have died while in military service.

Since in this country the draft ended more than fifty years go, it is nearly impossible to appreciate the magnitude of participation and sacrifice Veterans’ Day commemorates. In World War II alone, 16.4 million Americans served in the military, nearly one-third of the entire population between ages 18 and 45. They left behind 4 million spouses, 2 million children, and tens of millions of parents, siblings and sweethearts. Though there was no awareness of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, millions of these men returned fundamentally changed by what they had seen and done. While many died, many others returned yet bore the internal wounds for the rest of their, and their families’, lives. Divorce, which had been rare before the war, became much more a part of American life. On the other hand, there was a significant increase in vocations of monks to monasteries, as these men needed to plumb the depths of their faith in solitude to make sense of the extremes of human wickedness and heroic goodness they had experienced.

Blessings, Fr. Bill Donahue