“Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!’” (Lk 12:49) we hear our Lord teach us in today’s gospel.  As Jesus was sent by his heavenly Father to “set the earth on fire” so he has sent all of us followers to share his saving mission with the whole world.  We recognize our missionary mandate – to make disciples of all nations – to be our primary task; every other work we do flows from it.

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Due to its ongoing success here, the Bethlehem Carving Group will be returning, once again, to give us a taste of Christmas next weekend.  It was originally planned for the end of July but scheduling conflicts led to its postponement to next week!  Those of you who have visited our parish center when they have been here in the past know that the Bethlehem Carving Group offers a wide variety of beautiful olive wood carvings and other products for sale.  I have invited the Bethlehem Carving Group to set up […]

In just a few weeks, Pope Francis is scheduled to preside over a consistory for the creation of 21 new cardinals.  This was announced in May and was a great surprise to most familiar with the operation of the Vatican.  After all, the Vatican offices are practically closed down in August for the annual Ferragosto, the vacation time taken by many Romans during this, the hottest month of the year.  The last time a cardinal was made in August was in 1807 when Pope Pius VII created Francesco Guidobono Cavalchini […]

I hope you found some helpful instruction and inspiration in last week’s presentation of the first half of Pope Francis’ recent apostolic letter entitled Desiderio Desideravi.  It’s an opportune moment for us all to reflect on the importance of liturgy in our spiritual lives as we return to participating in the Eucharistic Celebration in person after being deprived of it for a time due to the coronavirus pandemic.  As I noted last week, this apostolic letter also helps us to understand why Pope Francis and so many bishops around the […]