This weekend and next, at the 5:00pm and 9:30am Masses, 71 of our parishioners will receive our Lord in Holy Communion for the first time!  This is a very important event in their faith lives as they now join with the rest of the believing community in participating fully in the Celebration of the Eucharist.  As the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains so clearly, Holy Communion is “our fellowship with Jesus and other baptized Christians in the Church, which has its source and summit in the celebration of the […]

It’s hard to believe that it’s already May, it arrives on Monday!  As you surely know, this month is traditionally dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God and the Mother of the Church.  As Pope Paul VI expressed so well in his encyclical entitled the Month of May, this is the “month which the piety of the faithful has especially dedicated to Our Blessed Lady,” and it is the occasion for a “moving tribute of faith and love which Catholics in every part of the world [pay] to the Queen […]

HAPPY EASTER!  As we bring the Octave of Easter to its conclusion, know that I have kept you in my prayers all week, that you may experience the joy of the Resurrection!  Today is also Divine Mercy Sunday.  Heeding the call that our risen Lord gave to St. Marie Faustina Kowalska in the 1930’s, the Church decreed on 23 May 2000 that “throughout the world, the Second Sunday of Easter will receive the name Divine Mercy Sunday, a perennial invitation to the Christian world to face, with confidence in divine […]

“Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.”  (Mt 21:9).  On Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, we are called to join with our Lord, Jesus Christ, as he makes a triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and then suffers derision and mockery, scourging and finally crucifixion because he comes to offer a new way of life and claims to be who he truly is – the Son of God.  This week is, indeed, what we Christians call it: […]

PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS (PART III)

On Thursday, the Parish Pastoral Council will meet with the candidates who were nominated to fill the four Council positions that will become vacant in May.  Almost 30 parishioners were nominated and I want to take this opportunity to thank those who submitted nominations and to encourage those who were nominated for the Council to prayerfully consider this call to serve our parish in this unique ministry.  It is, indeed, an important one as the Pastoral Council offers me invaluable insight and counsel in the […]

Ever since missionary priests accompanied the Spanish conquistadors in the 15^th century, the Catholic faith has spread throughout Latin America.  Many of the people are faith-filled but the needs in this region of the world are great and can often seem insurmountable.  For more than 50 years, the annual Collection for the Church in Latin America has been a way for Catholics in the United States to unite more closely with our brothers and sisters in faith throughout Latin America and the Caribbean through supporting diocesan pastoral catechetical and family […]