So, how have you received the news that we no longer need to wear face masks, as long as we have been fully vaccinated? Many of us received it with a great sigh of relief; those masks are a real bother. I received my second shot on Tuesday of Holy Week. That’s more than six weeks ago so I’m fully vaccinated and am very happy to shed the mask. Others among us are still a little hesitant, not sure if this is a good idea right now. Some are horrified, […]
As they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” (Acts 1:10-11)
This past Thursday, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Ascension of […]
“Love one another as I love you.” Our Lord’s instruction in today’s gospel sounds so simple and straightforward and it’s a wonderful message for us today as we celebrate Mother’s Day and welcome some of our young parishioners around our Lord’s Table in a special way as they receive Holy Communion for the very first time. These are certainly both wonderful occasions to experience love from God and our children. But, as we have probably all experienced, it can be a real challenge to love, especially when we don’t feel […]
Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers of the parish and the mothers of all our parishioners! We all know how important our mothers have been to us as we grew up and so we join with our nation in honoring them today. And, during this ongoing coronavirus pandemic, we become even more aware of the essential role mothers play in our homes in ways that we may have taken for granted in the past.
Mother’s Day has a very long history; allow me to offer a little background. The earliest tributes […]
I hope you have all been enjoying this lovely weather this weekend. I imagine some of you have been out in your yards and gardens sprucing everything up. I invite you to picture the master gardener, whistling, wearing a floppy hat, pruning shears in hand, smiling as he cleans up his garden, snipping away the dead branches on all the vegetation he has so carefully planted in his garden. God is at work. From the moment God placed Adam and Eve in his garden, he has been pruning his most […]
The Fourth Sunday of Easter is also called Good Shepherd Sunday since the gospel every year focuses on Jesus, the Good Shepherd. For the past 58 years, the Church has called us to observe a World Day of Prayer for Vocations on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. Specifically, this day calls us to pray for an increase in vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, consecrated or religious life. The purpose of World Day of Prayer for Vocations is to publicly fulfill our Lord’s instruction to, “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send […]
It’s hard to believe that our current pope, Francis, has been pope for eight years already. I thought of that earlier this week when I happened to drive past the Malvern Retreat House because I had been there with some 200 fellow priests for our annual priests workshop eight years ago and we had all crowded around a television that been set up because the consistory was taking place – the election of the next pope – and news had just broken of the white smoke, indicating that the pope […]