We’re all familiar with the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. It’s a wonderful image for us, especially these days as we feel lost and uncertain as to where we – or, in fact, the entire world – is headed. As we hear in today’s Gospel, Jesus calls each of his sheep by name – just as he did at our baptism – and leads them out to find green pasture and plentiful water for the day. We are also familiar with the story of Jesus going after the […]
We celebrated the feast of our patron, St. Catherine of Siena, this past Wednesday and, as I reflected on her life, I also turned to our stained glass window in church for inspiration. Like so many of our stained glass windows, this one is filled with symbolism that teaches us about our patron saint. So, I would like to tell you about this window. First, however, allow me to offer you a brief biography of our patron saint; you may be surprised how much our time has in common with […]
Of all of the stories in the Gospels, the one we just heard is certainly one of the most well-known; we’re all familiar with it. But, this year, I think this story can strike a special cord for us because we can really identify with the two disciples. They were frightened and confused. Their plans had been upended, their hopes and dreams had been shattered and they just wanted to get out of town to escape danger. Sounds like us right now, doesn’t it, as we continue to struggle through […]
I hope you are staying healthy – physically, mentally and spiritually – during these ongoing stressful times as we all try to weather the coronavirus pandemic. I’m delighted that so many of our parishioners are watching the live streamed Masses; it’s a very important way for us to stay together as a faith community. Over the past several weeks, I’ve had a number of parishioners ask about some of the details of our church that they hadn’t noticed before but now see on the live streamed Masses. They have asked […]
Happy Easter! Yes, I realize that Easter Sunday was last week and I hope you had a wonderful Easter, even under these unusual and stressful circumstances. But, since the Resurrection of our Lord is such an important event, the Church calls us to celebrate it for an entire octave and today we come to the end of those eight days. Just as cinematographers slow down the action of a particularly important moment of a movie or television show to give the viewer time to catch every detail of the event, […]
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 […]
Christ is risen! Halleluiah! These are the victorious words we shout and sing with gusto on this greatest of all feast days. Halleluiah is the “h” word I mentioned in my homily last Sunday, when we were focused on another “h” word – Hosanna. As you will recall from last week, “Hosanna” means “God save us.” It is a cry for help. That’s how we started off Holy Week – praying to God to save us, knowing that he, alone, can save us. But this morning we can shout out […]