From Our Pastor

As the academic year begins in schools throughout the region, I ask you to welcome a student who has come to live in our convent as she begins her studies at Villanova University. Sr. Theresa Ho Nguyen, a member of the Lovers of the Holy Cross community, arrived just last week and immediately began her studies in Christian Spirituality and Sacred Scriptures. Sr. Ho is originally from Son Tay, a suburb of Hanoi, Vietnam. She entered the Lovers of the Holy Cross community and was sent to study pastoral theology [...]

If you were paying attention to the recent Sundays’ Gospel accounts, you might have noticed that they have been 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 Gospels, and especially from [...]

We all know how important it is to grow in our knowledge of God; after all, we are all preparing to spend eternity with him! God has blessed us by revealing himself to us down through the ages, especially through the prophets and in person through his son, Jesus Christ. We are blessed here in America with many fine Catholic colleges and universities that help our children continue to learn about God as they prepare for their careers and adult lives. Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., is the only [...]

On Wednesday, we will join with the universal Church in celebrating the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, into heaven. It is a Holy Day of Obligation and the principal feast day of the Blessed Mother, so 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 called the Dormition, [...]

Last week, I wrote about the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s controversial but prophetic encyclical, Humanae Vitae. This week, I would like to reflect on how the Church has responded to the very valid concern that many families have as they strive to be faithful to the Church’s teachings in regard to conception. In the face of the many challenges that children bring to a family, how does the Church recommend married couples engage in responsible family planning? As you will see mentioned several times in various Church documents, [...]