From Our Pastor

As Christmas came to an end with the feast of the Baptism of the Lord – which we celebrated this past Sunday – we begin what the Church calls Ordinary Time.  It is called “ordinary” because the weeks are numbered in order – 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.  It is time – usually 33 weeks – ordered by God’s grace in between the sacred seasons of Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter.  The priest wears green vestments.  Our church’s Christmas decorations have come down and we all have returned to a [...]

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord “After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him.  And a voice came from the heavens, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’” (Mt 3:15-17).  On this, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we hear God the Father declare that Jesus, the son of Mary is, indeed, His Son as well.  And, [...]

“They prostrated themselves and did him homage.  Then they opened their treasures and offered him gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” (Mt 2:11).  As we continue our celebration of the Christmas season with the celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord, we all remember the wise men who came seeking the “newborn king.”  When they found him, they showed him great reverence and offered their gifts: gold to recognize his kingship, frankincense to acknowledge him as God and myrrh in preparation for his death.  During this most holy season, we do well [...]

As we continue in this Octave of Christmas, allow me to wish you a very blessed Christmas!  I hope all of your Christmas preparations were successful and your celebrations have been joyful!  I also hope that you were able to take a moment to sit back and reflect on the meaning of this great Feast – the birth of God’s only son for our salvation!  All around you – even in the secular Christmas decorations and events around you – you will find symbols of this pivotal moment in Salvation [...]

All of this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”  (Mt. 1:22-23) On this, the Fourth Sunday of Advent, we all realize that Christmas is just a few days away!  As we hear proclaimed in both our first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and our gospel from Matthew, Jesus, the son of Mary, is also truly God: Emmanuel - that is [...]

 You will notice that the two Christmas trees that had been filled with tags for women’s and children’s gifts at Mercy Hospice, as well as local people in need are gone – so are all the tags!  Over the past few weeks, so many of you have so generously taken the tags and returned with gifts for these needy women and children whom you will probably never meet; in their name, I want to thank you!  Let me also thank those of you who filled the school cafeteria recently with [...]