Next Sunday, November 2, is TURKEY DINNER TIME! Bring your family and friends and enjoy a delicious meal with all the trimmings, including pie -- and we'll do the dishes, so all you have to do is relax and enjoy.

Tickets for the sit-down dinners will be sold by the school office (back doors of St. Joseph's Hall). Serving will start at 11:00 AM. Take-out dinners will start at NOON, and tickets will be sold in the corner of St. Paul's Plaza outside the door to St. Joseph's Hall. Adult tickets are $7.00 and children 10 and under are $3.50.

Along with the delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings, we will have many booths by local artists and crafters. Craft items, homemade goodies, and gently used collectibles will be featured at the AUNTIE'S ATTIC tables. Contributions are still welcome and may be brought to St. Paul's Plaza.

We are again asking for the traditional donation of a pie (apple or pumpkin), and a donation to help defray the cost of the dinner. PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR PIE  TO THE TABLE IN ST. PAUL'S PLAZA. THANK YOU in advance for your delicious contribution.

Workers are still needed for some jobs. If you have not yet been assigned and would like to help, please call Loretta, 651-633-2857. This is a parish event and we need all kinds of help and support. WORKERS: please remember to bring your own apron, and check in at the WORKERS TABLE IN ST. PAUL'S PLAZA. If you are assigned to the second shift, PLEASE SHOW UP! We are counting on you, and we truly appreciate your help. THANK YOU!

A two-part CPR class will be offered to adult parishioners. The evening series, in conjunction with the American Heart Association, will be taught by Kay Bauer, a critical care nurse for 26 years.

Pre-registration required. 
    Call:   Jane & Ralph Arnott at 651-633-0265, or Natalie Schommer at 651-633-8561. 

PICTURE DIRECTORIES

They are here!  Come and get yours!

You may pick up your copy of the directory after any Mass during the weekends of October 25/26 and November 1/2 in the Narthex.  Please come up the ramp near the Sacristy into the Narthex.

A limited supply will also be available for $5.00.

The directories will not be sent out - - please make an effort to pick up your copy during one of these two weekends.

Humanae Vitae: Seventh Annual Archdiocesan Family Forum with Bishop Frederick Campbell; Saturday, November 1, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., at St. John Neumann in Eagan. Call 651-291-4488 to register ($25 per couple or $15 per person).

Connections: October 26, 2003  30th Sunday of the Year

Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging.  "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!"  "Master, I want to see." Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." (Mark 10:46-52)

A Squirrel's Life

      A man is standing on the curb, about to cross the street.  As soon as he steps onto the pavement, a car comes screaming straight at him.
      As the man begins to run, the car speeds up.  So the man turns around and hurries back to the curb, but the car changes lanes and keeps coming.  Now the vehicle is so close and the pedestrian is so scared that he freezes in the middle of the intersection.  The car closes in on him, then swerves at the last possible moment and screeches to a halt.
The driver rolls down the window.  Behind the wheel is a squirrel.
"See," sneers the squirrel, "it's not as easy as it looks, is it?"

CONNECTION:  The hard driving squirrel demands from the terrified pedestrian the same thing that Bartimaeus asks of Jesus in today's Gospel: understanding and compassion. Bartimaeus recognizes that his need for the mercy and grace of God's presence is far more important and critical in his life than the ability to see.  Ironically, this blind man "sees" the compassion of Jesus that many of Jesus' "seeing" disciples do not recognize.  And Jesus responds to him out of His deep love for every human being.  The story of the blind Bartimaeus, and the pedestrian scurrying for his life like a trapped squirrel, challenges us to see ourselves and one another in the light of the compassionate love of God, to journey with eyes of faith, and to discern the way of God in all things.