Last Saturday, I had the great joy of joining with my family in celebrating my youngest great nephew’s fourth birthday – it was lots of fun! There were 40 people at the party and more than a dozen of them were under the age of ten. My nephew and his wife had rented a portable miniature golf and the kids, filled with laughter, took turns playing each hole as well as in the play house in the corner of their back yard and the jungle gym nearby – and just […]
Wisdom 2: 12, 17 – 20
Welcome back, everyone, as we return to Bible Study/Faith Sharing in person and virtually. I hope you all had a great summer and that you and your families have continued to successfully navigate this pandemic. Our God has continued to remain with us and his plan for us continues to unfold, just as it has throughout the ages. We just need the wisdom, humility and courage to understand and accept it. This upcoming Sunday’s readings help us to do just that so let’s begin by […]
Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priest, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this, he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said, “Whoever wishes to come […]
Last summer, while we were in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, I began a series of presentations in my Parish Bulletin articles on the beautiful stained glass windows of our church. This was in response to an increased interest in them that had resulted from a highlighting of some of the stained glass windows during our live streamed Masses that began when all public Masses were prohibited due to the pandemic. Beginning in July and ending in December, I offered explanations on all of the windows in the nave, […]
Today, we will join with the universal Church in celebrating the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, into heaven. It is not often that we actually celebrate it on a Sunday. It is the principal feast day of the Blessed Mother, so I would like to offer you some reflections on it.
The commemoration of the death of Mary is known as the Assumption because of the tradition that, shortly after her death, Mary was raised up, body and soul, into heaven. In the Eastern Church, it is […]
If you have been paying attention to the Sunday Gospels over the past two weeks, you might have noticed that they were taken from the Gospel of John. If you noticed that, you might have thought it odd since this year, when we are in Year B of the three year Liturgical cycle, the Sunday Gospel is ordinarily taken from the Gospel of Mark. Since Mark’s Gospel is rather short, however, we have more Sundays than we have Marcan pericopes so periodically throughout the year, readings are taken from other […]
“I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” (Jn 6:35) we hear Lord teach us in today’s gospel. As more and more of you return to celebrating the Eucharist in person and receiving our Lord in Holy Communion, we know how precious this gift of the Bread of Life is for us. And, we recall that, just as Jesus was sent by his heavenly Father to give us both his life-giving Word and his nourishing Body and […]
It has been just three weeks since our school has closed for the summer and the parish facilities have quieted down considerably. I miss seeing and hearing our children in the classrooms, corridors and schoolyard – they are so full of life and vitality! We all know how fortunate we are to have such a vibrant school and I want to take this opportunity to thank our principal, Bud Tosti, and the entire school staff for keeping our school open and in-person this past year; both our students and their […]
“Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty works have been wrought by his hands?” (Mk. 6:2b)
As we celebrate Independence Day this weekend, we rejoice in the freedom God has provided all of us in this country as the result of a hard battle against an oppressive and unjust regime. We hear throughout the gospels that God’s love is to be shared equally with all people, especially the abandoned, the forgotten, the neglected and the oppressed. After Jesus removes an unclean […]
