HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

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.  Mother’s Day is not part of the Church’s liturgical calendar.  In fact, liturgical directives state that “this secular observance must in no way diminish the primary focus of Sunday as the celebration of the paschal mystery.”  Yet, this national holiday allows an opportunity to […]

Habemus Papam!  We have a Pope!  This has certainly been an exciting – and, indeed, historic – time for the Universal Church as 132 cardinals from 70 countries around the world started meeting in the Sistine Chapel to elect our next pope on 7 May.  And, after just four ballots, so many of us watched excitedly as white smoke billowed from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel just after noon on the second day.  I don’t know about you, but I certainly […]

As we continue experiencing a rather unusual time in the Church between the death of Pope Francis and the election of a new pope, allow me to provide you with a step-by-step overview of how the Church operates during this time.  Over the 2,000 years of its existence, the Catholic Church has developed laws, regulations and protocols to order its life; the time of the sede vacante (vacant seat) and the upcoming conclave are no exception.  This period of time has been regulated over the past 30 years by the […]

 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 ever more fully the joy of the Resurrection.  Today is also Divine Mercy Sunday.  How appropriate it is to celebrate our Lord’s mercy as we say farewell to Pope Francis whose years of ministry as our Holy Father were highlighted by his preaching on mercy both in word and deed.  Who can forget the first Good Friday that he celebrated as pope.  Rather […]

Alleluia!  This Easter proclamation that we repeat over and over again during the joyful Easter Season has a powerful meaning, one that we should all know and embrace.  It is a combination of two Hebrew words: “hallelu” (the plural imperative of “hallel”) which means “praise” and “yah,” the first half of the Hebrew word for God, Yahweh.  So, it literally means “everyone praise God!”  We should praise God always because of all the good he does for us every moment of our lives.  But Easter is the time for us […]

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.”  (Lk 19:38).  On Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, we are called to join with our Lord, Jesus Christ, as he makes a triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and then suffers derision and mockery, scourging and finally crucifixion because he claims to be who he truly is – the Son of God – and comes to offer a new way of life.  This week is, indeed, what we Christians call it: […]

“Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  This Saturday, Bishop Christopher Cooke confirmed 68 of our young parishioners who attend our school or PREP with the imposition of hands and anointing of the forehead. At the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, I will confirm eight adult parishioners with the same sacramental imposition of hands and anointing of the forehead.  This completed or will complete the initiation of all of these parishioners into the Church, which began at Baptism and was nurtured through the Eucharist.  These three sacraments – […]

Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her.

Be joyful, all who were in mourning;

Exult and be satisfied at her consoling breast. (Is 66:10:11)

Today, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, is also known as Laetare Sunday.  It gets this name from the first word of the Entrance Antiphon used at Mass without music; you will see it quoted above.  In Latin, the antiphon begins with the word “Laetare,” which, as you see above, translates into “Rejoice.”  As we quickly approach the end of Lent – next week […]

Each year, the Gospel for Ash Wednesday sets out three practices – prayer, fasting and almsgiving – which we are called to perform with greater intensity and intentionality during Lent.  Like a three-legged stool, all three of these practices are necessary for a stable Christian life and so, we are called to focus on them, once again, during this Lenten Season as we renew our commitment to following our Lord through his death to his Resurrection.  As we approach the halfway mark for Lent, allow me to offer some reflections […]

The predominant Christian Church in central and Eastern Europe is the Orthodox Church.  You may recall that the Orthodox Church resulted from the schism between the East and West in 1054.  The Catholic Church continues to serve the faithful in these countries too, however, often with great difficulty.  The annual collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, which we will take up next weekend, provides much-needed funding for the Catholics living in 28 countries from Albania to Uzbekistan.  In Ukraine, one of these countries that has been so […]