SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT
“While he was praying, his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white.” Well, that would certainly get your attention, wouldn’t it. You join your dear friend and mentor, Jesus, as he goes up a mountain to pray. He has often gone apart to pray – up a mountain, into the desert – but it’s always been alone. This time, he has invited you, and two other of his closest companions, to join him. And then, like Moses up on Mount Sinai, he begins to glow and shine. […]
COLLECTION FOR THE CHURCH IN LATIN AMERICA
On June 26, 2020, Fr. Ricardo Antonio Cortez Martínez, rector of the St. Óscar Arnulfo Romero seminary in Usulutan, El Salvador, sent a request to the Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America for financial aid for 42 seminarians in the philosophy stage of their formation. Less than two months later, on August 7, Fr. Ricardo was found assassinated. Tragically, three priests were slain from 2019 through August 2020 in El Salvador as drug cartels control the country and drug lords feel threatened by the Church’s call to peace and […]
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT
i don’t know about you, but I have been watching with disbelief and horror the events unfolding in the Ukraine as Russia invades it, causing wanton destruction and killing both soldiers and civilians without any compunction. It is, tragically, just the latest reminder that, ever since Cain slew Abel, there are those among us who do not respect the rights of others and will do anything they can to get their way. We see the same scenario playing out between Israel and Palestine and China and Taiwan. We are, once […]
EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
So, how do you like the new look in our church? Finally, all 2,242 pipes of our new organ are in place, both in the choir loft and the positiv divisions over the doorways flanking our Blessed Sacrament Chapel. Aren’t they magnificent!?! We are very blessed to have a beautiful church, with splendid stained glass windows that present all of Salvation History, a handsome, granite altar and ambo, from which we hear the Word of God proclaimed and we receive the sacred Body and Blood of Christ, the source of […]
LENT BEGINS
Although spring doesn’t come officially until 20 March, Lent – which means “spring” – begins this Wednesday, 2 March, with Ash Wednesday. On Ash Wednesday, we are again made aware of our sinfulness and our need for salvation. We are called to choose to accompany Jesus as he offers his life to save us. On Ash Wednesday, we receive ashes as both a sign of repentance and a call to choose to prepare for our eternal salvation. This is why there are two formulas – “Repent and believe in the […]
SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Ice cream, chocolates, candy…don’t they sound great! Many of us crave sweet things. In just a little more than a weeks, some of us will be giving them up as our sacrifice for Lent. Sugary treats may not be a healthy option but they trigger the release of feel-good chemicals in our brains that provide us with a momentary rush of pleasure. Interestingly enough, so does the thought of getting even with someone who has hurt us. Neuroscientists have discovered that revenge really is “sweet” for that part of our […]