News - August 2026 RSS Feed

Please join the community of Saint Catherine's as we celebrate a remarkable milestone: The 45th Sapphire Jubilee Anniversary of Father Daniel McMullin. When: Saturday, August 29, 2026. Mass: 5:00 p.m. Reception: 6:00-9:00 p.m. Where: Saint Catherine of Siena Parish followed by fellowship in Mahler Hall. A community potluck reception will follow the liturgy. Parishioners are asked to sign up on the sheet in the atrium or online You can sign up to bring one of the following: side dishes, entrees or desserts. You can also volunteer time to help with the Mass or reception: set-up, clean-up, liturgical ministers or musicians. Main dishes and beverages will be provided by the parish. Forty-five years of faithful service, spiritual guidance, and sacramental grace! Let us come together to express our deepest appreciation for Father Dan's enduring "yes" to the Lord.

With practically half of the world’s population living in urban areas, Pope Leo XIV dedicates his August prayer intention to “evangelization in the city.” Through this intention, he invites the faithful to discover, in the midst of the anonymity and loneliness that often characterize city life, ways of building open and welcoming homes, “where no one feels invisible.” Through the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network’s “Pray with the Pope campaign, the Holy Father calls the faithful and all people of goodwill to join him each month in praying for his intentions. In this prayer, Pope Leo XIV asks the “Good Shepherd” who “walks through our streets and squares,” to “enter tall buildings and humble neighborhoods,” and to “silently accompany millions” of people who “seek meaning amid noise and haste.” The Pope acknowledges that cities, meant to be places of “freedom and opportunity,” can also become “spaces of anonymity and isolation.” So, he calls for a new perspective, capable of discovering “fertile ground for proclaiming your Gospel” in urban life. He continues his prayer, asking for a creative faith expressed not only in words, but incarnated in “simple and loving gestures.” He also asks the Lord to make the Church a community that “goes forth,” and is capable of reaching out to the peripheries to sow fraternity where indifference reigns. See the attached document for more on this prayer.

On July 29th, Bishop John Bonnici wrote a letter to the Faithful of our Rochester Diocese addressing the soon to be enacted Medical Aid in Dying Act. Please go to this link: https://www.dor.org/bishop-bonnici-letter-to-the-faithful/ to read the letter.