Dear Brothers and Sisters, Over the past couple weeks, you might have noticed something new in the church: the new votive racks. Ever since arriving at St Thomas, I’ve received a lot of suggestions to add them, and it’s great that we’ve been able to happen. Many thanks in particular to Andrew Vickery (our seminarian last summer) who worked on the design and to Carl Roan who did the woodwork. It’s incredible how everything turned out! Lighting a prayer candle is a wonderful Catholic custom that you might be familiar with from other parishes. The light of the candle is a symbol of the hope we have from knowing that God hears our prayers, and the way the candle shines for a long time reminds us of how we are to pray without ceasing. And when many people light candles together, we see a sign of how we are united in prayer, both with our fellow Catholics on earth and with the saints, our friends in heaven. These lights we will be seeing in our parish church are a great way to think about the best of the Last Things: heaven, the destination that lies beyond this earthly journey. We go forward along the paths of this life with the certainty that our heavenly Father has prepared a place for us, and a great cloud of witnesses cheers us on with their prayers. Against the dark moments of this life, heaven is a candle of hope that burns all the brighter in the shadows. On this Thanksgiving weekend, I give thanks to God for our whole parish family, which is a light for our community and a sign of the bright hope of heaven that lies before us. Through the prayers of the Blessed Mother and our patron St. Thomas, we raise up each other in the light of God’s love. God bless,