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So far Barbara Lombardi has created 886 blog entries.

WORLD MISSION SUNDAY

This weekend, we join with the Church Universal in celebrating World Mission Sunday with its theme: “Missionaries of Hope Among All Peoples”.  As we continue to celebrate this Jubilee Year, the late Pope Francis called everyone in his 2025 World Mission Day Message to prayer, reminding us that prayer is not only the “primary missionary activity,” but also the key to “keeping alive the spark of hope lit by God within us.”

Our Holy Father delivers his Mission Day Message in February in preparation for World Mission Sunday which is observed […]

2025-10-03T14:22:36-04:00October 3rd, 2025|

TWENTY-SISTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

As our parish staff met last Wednesday, I got their attention when I reminded them that we were only three months away from Christmas Eve.  Can you imagine!?!   Three months from today, we’ll be in the middle of Christmas week.  In the meantime, we will soon be getting involved in our annual Adopt-a-Family and Christmas Food Baskets.  One of the many aspects of our parish that I have found so inspirational and edifying over the 14 years that I have been here is your tremendously generous response to all of […]

2025-09-29T14:12:30-04:00September 29th, 2025|

ANNUAL EUCHARISTIC DEVOTION

After the celebration of the Eucharist itself, what better Eucharistic event is there than our annual Forty Hours Eucharistic Devotion?  It’s a great opportunity to linger with our Lord, recalling all that he has done for us and preparing for our eternity with him.   Our annual Forty Hours Eucharistic Devotion will begin next Sunday after the 11:30am Mass and conclude with a 7:00pm Mass on Tuesday.  I encourage everyone to join in this wonderful devotion!

As you know, we believe that, when we celebrate Mass, we participate in the Paschal Mystery: […]

2025-09-27T10:56:29-04:00September 27th, 2025|

TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

“You cannot serve both God and mammon.”  We all know who God is and how we are to serve him: by loving him and our neighbor.  But, what does it mean to serve mammon?  We first have to understand what mammon is.  If you look it up in the dictionary, you will see that it is simply riches or material wealth.  There is nothing wrong with material possessions.  But, striving for wealth above serving God leads us to the position where we hear Amos condemn some of his wealthy countrymen […]

2025-09-22T15:18:16-04:00September 22nd, 2025|

CATECHETICAL SUNDAY

“Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has poured out into our hearts.” (Rom 5:5)

You may recall that the late Pope Francis introduced a Jubilee Year that began last Christmas Eve.  It will come to a close on 6 January 2026, the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord.  During this Jubilee Year, Pope Francis called us all to be “pilgrims of hope.”  This hope is not just an idle wish but, as one of the theological virtues, it is the confident assurance that God’s love will prevail […]

2025-09-19T15:19:32-04:00September 19th, 2025|

THE EXALTATION OF THE CROSS

THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS

You may wonder why we’re celebrating this feast – the Exaltation of the Holy Cross – on a Sunday in the middle of September.  Since it falls on a Sunday only every so many years – the last time was in 2014 – you may have forgotten that this is an ancient feast day, marking the discovery of the True Cross by St. Helena and the dedication of the basilica that Emperor Constantine, her son, built in Jerusalem over the spot of our Lord’s crucifixion.  […]

2025-09-15T14:54:22-04:00September 15th, 2025|

EXALTATION OF THE CROSS

The feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is celebrated every year on 14 September.  It is such an important feast that it supersedes the celebration of the Sunday in Ordinary Time when it occurs on a Sunday.  Of course, this doesn’t happen very often.  In fact, the last time it occurred on a Sunday was in 2014.  Allow me to provide some historical and theological background for this feast which we celebrate today.

There are three historical events that are commemorated in this celebration: the discovery of the True […]

2025-09-12T14:19:54-04:00September 12th, 2025|
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