My dear friends, Today in the gospel we hear the parable of the talents, and I want to focus specifically on the third servant who buried the one talent his master gave him in the ground. The third servant had been blessed. Sure he hadn’t been blessed with as many talents as the other two …
Continue reading “November 15th – XXXIII Sunday in Ordinary Time”
My Dear Friends, The Catholic tradition of offering Masses for our loved ones, especially those who have died, can be traced to the beginnings of the Catholic Church. In the Eucharist we are united in a unique way with the faithful departed and the Communion of Saint. Why do we offer Masses for our loved …
Continue reading “November 8th – XXXII Sunday in Ordinary Time”
My Dear Friends, Happy All Saints Day! On this solemnity, I invite you to open up the Catechism of the Catholic Church to explore a line that we say in the Creed every Sunday. Paragraph 946 says: After confessing “the holy catholic Church,” the Apostles’ Creed adds “the communion of saints.” In a certain sense this …
“Which commandment in the law is the greatest?” (Matthew 22:36) We hear this question in today’s gospel. This is more than just a trick question that the Pharisees offer up to Jesus. We hear this question and immediately think that Jesus has to choose from among the 10 commandments given to Moses. But the Pharisees …
Continue reading “October 25th – XXX Sunday in Ordinary Time”
My Dear Friends, We know how anxious many of you are to return to the physical meetings of our ministries. Trust me, we are too because it gets very quiet around here after the 5:30 p.m. Mass has ended. Ministries are the lifeblood of the parish. They take what we have received at the Holy Eucharist and not only …
Continue reading “October 18th – XXIX Sunday in Ordinary Time”
My dear friends, It never ceases to amaze me how the simple things in life can bring us such joy. Last weekend, as I concluded the two Dominical Masses that I celebrated, I joyfully told the congregation “I finally have announcements to give you of upcoming events!” I was gleeful as I shared with my parish all the events we had …
Continue reading “October 11 – XXVIII Sunday in Ordinary Time”
A Message from Archbishop Wenski Tuesday, November 3rd, is Election Day (although many of us already will have voted through mail or at an early voting location). As Catholics, we see responsible citizenship as a virtue, and thus participation in the political process is not only a right but also a duty. And so, as …
Continue reading “October 4 – XXVII Sunday in Ordinary Time”
My dear friends, This coming week we celebrate the feast of our patroness, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower. There is so much wisdom that I keep discovering every time I open up her “Story of a Soul,” so much spiritual brilliance in such a young woman, and so much insight into how to …
Continue reading “September 27th – XXVI Sunday in Ordinary Time”
My dear friends, As we continue our journey through this pandemic, I want to call attention to a significant milestone that we reached this past week, and a few events that are upcoming that will hopefully give us some sense of normalcy which has been in short supply. Last Tuesday, September 15th, our parochial school …
Continue reading “September 20 – XXV Sunday in Ordinary Time”