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Have you ever read or heard any passage of Sacred Scripture read to you that brought you to tears?  What happened afterwards? Have you ever heard a homily that spoke directly to you, calling you to make difficult life style changes not previously thought about? Do you come to Mass with the openness of heart, and the expectation to be transformed by the Good News that you hear? Or are your expectations to be intellectually stimulated and no more? What do you look for in a homily?

Greetings my beloved parishioners, Hope your year is off to a good start. In the spirit of continued gratitude, I want to thank all of you who made my Christmas a memorable and graced one. Your participation at the Christmas liturgies, your prayers, words of support and encouragement, baked goodies, cards and gifts are deeply, deeply appreciated. Be assured of my prayers for you and your families. A priest never forgets his benefactors...

Do you remember your birth date? Have you ever forgotten your birthday? Do you celebrate your birthday? How? Are you baptized? Do you remember your baptism date? Do you ever celebrate your baptism day? If so, how? If not, why? The above questions come to mind as we celebrate today the Baptism of the Lord. This feast marks the end of the Christmas Season, and we return to Ordinary Time in the Church’s Liturgical Calendar. The Baptism of the Lord marks the end of Jesus’ early and hidden life and the beginning of his public ministry. Jesus’ baptism is unlike our baptisms, because he had no need of baptism since he is God, and without sin. He was not made clean by the waters of the Jordan, instead, by going down into the waters he makes the waters of baptism holy and efficacious to remove sin. By his Incarnation, Jesus chose to take something of ours in order to give us something of his.

Merry Christmas! It is the Octave of Christmas and the Church celebrates today the Epiphany of the Lord. The word “Epiphany” comes from a Greek root, which could be rendered as ‘manifestation,’ ‘to reveal,’ ‘to unveil.’ It is the revelation of Jesus Christ as the light to the nations. When scripture speaks of nations, it refers to the whole world apart from the Jewish nation. This includes everyone else who is outside of the original promise made to Abraham and his descendants. That includes you and me...

Christmas is about Jesus! It is about the incarnation, the enfleshment of the divine and eternal Son of God. It is about God entering into our chaos and restoring it from within. He who is outside of time enters into time to redeem it...

Here in this season of joyful anticipation, let us learn from the wonder of young children at both the beauty of Christmas and the gift of new life. Working in a preschool as an expectant mother, I often have wide eyed four year olds walk up to me, put their hands on my belly and in awe beg, “is she still in there?” or “what is she doing?” They are so taken by the mystery and gift of life, I cannot help but be moved by their fascination and curiosity...

Joyful Receptivity. I think that my knee-jerk reaction to that is an eye roll. I have never really considered myself joyful, I am pretty content being a glass-half-empty kind of girl. I tend to see the bad in the world and my heart aches for something new. I think this is what continually calls me back to Christ. He is a reminder that with all the very real sorrows of this world there is always good...

We have come to the final week of Advent, and Christmas is right around the corner. We thank the Lord for a blessed Advent, and like John, we leap for joy as we welcome the fruit of Mary’s womb, our long expected Messiah. From the 8th century Christians have expressed this hope in the coming of Christ by proclaiming what today is known as the “O Antiphons.” These are antiphons that introduce the Magnificat canticle of Evening Prayer from December 17-23. These antiphons are very appropriate for these last days of Advent because they connect the coming of Christ with the fulfillment of the prophecies about the Messiah which we have been reading about in our liturgies...

The Third Sunday of Advent is always celebrated as “Gaudete Sunday” or “Rejoice Sunday.” This comes from the first word of the Introit or Entrance Antiphon for today’s Mass: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near” (Phil 4: 4-5). We are reminded of the imminence of the Lord’s coming and our closeness to the feast of the Lord’s Nativity, which Advent anticipates. These words also open our Second reading for this weekend...

Parishioner, Lynn, shares about how a dream led her to reflecting on Mary and saying yes to doing God's will.

How else can we best welcome the one who is coming in glory and power at the eschaton unless we first receive him in the lowliness of the manger on bended knees? How do we best prepare for the birth of the Messiah, the one to whom the choir of angels sing, than by daily lowering ourselves so that he might increase in us? [Read more]

As we enter into this season of Advent together as a parish family, it seems timely to turn our focus to our core value of joyful receptivity. I don’t know about you, but the normal stresses of everyday life, the constant news cycle full of pain, injustice and confusion, coupled with the societal pressures of the holiday season (Plan all the things! Do all the things! Buy all the things! And hurry!) have me feeling constantly on edge and anything but joyful or receptive...

Today’s readings may not sit well with the imagery we might have about Advent, preparing for the birth of Jesus and all the festivity that surrounds his coming. But these readings are crucial to a full understanding. It is about the kingdom of heaven, here and yet coming...

Daniel offers suggestions for entering into the season of Advent, especially frequenting the Sacrament of Confession.

When you hear the title “King” what comes to mind? What themes does this title elicit for you? For some of us it might be themes of Kingdom, power, dominion, authority, subjugation, the list goes on; depending on the experiences of some, it might also suggest tyranny. For many western and modern minds, the idea of a king, who is a sovereign, and who reigns over a kingdom might be alien. But it is not strange to some from developing or even theocratic countries as some of these countries currently have kings. Our celebration of the Kingship of Jesus this weekend acknowledges first that Jesus is king. However, it contrasts the reign of Jesus with those of earthly rulers. Whereas earthly kings only rule for a time, Christ’s kingship is an everlasting one, and has no end. Whereas human Kings might rule by means of brute force, Jesus rules not by means of force but by love. His is a kingdom of peace, truth and justice. And all of us who long to be in that kingdom some day are called to embrace these values of the kingdom.

We are at the penultimate Sunday in our current Liturgical Year. And the end of a liturgical season is a great time to ponder on the end of time, as well as our own end. The cosmic events spoken of in our First and Gospel readings this weekend are not intended to generate or even validate speculations as to the hour when these would happen, but to call us to focus on Jesus who is the Lord of history, and in whom human history has been and is being redeemed. Whereas the first reading from Daniel speaks of events during the tyrannical reign of Antiochus IV, and the gospel could have been a prediction of events to precede the destruction of Jerusalem, they both serve to encourage the people that God is Lord of history, and that he is at work even in the worst of situations.

Charity and obedience are on display in the First Reading for this weekend’s liturgy. The widow, a poor person by the standards of the day, one who had little means to care for herself and her son, becomes for all ages, an example of selfless generosity. She was charitable to the prophet, perhaps because he was a prophet. But the Lord rewards her generosity of spirit. The jar of flour did not go empty and the jug of oil did not run dry, as the Lord had foretold through the prophet. When we act charitably, we must do so with all our hearts...

In every report on Whatsoever You Do Outreach, we thank you for your generosity. But hearing today’s Gospel proclaimed and hearing the words – “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” – we are reminded to tell you that by your generosity you are doing just that, loving your neighbor as yourself...

The month of October is dedicated to the prayer of the rosary, a prayer that Our Lady of Fatima urgently requested over the course of her appearances to the three Portuguese shepherd children in 1917. She asked that the rosary be prayed every day, especially for an end to World War I and for peace in the entire world...

November is here again. We are gradually approaching the end of our calendar year. November also brings us close to the end of this liturgical year, with the celebration of Our Lord Jesus Christ the Universal King. On November 1st we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. This is the church of all known and unknown saints who have been through the great tribulation and have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14). This is the Church Triumphant. They now enjoy the beatific vision. Their heroic life is both inspiration and challenge for us, the Church Militant, as we journey on our pilgrimage through life. On November 2nd we commemorate, and remember in our prayers the souls of our departed brothers and sisters, whom the Lord has called back home...