Pastor's Blog

Dear Parishioners, As a follow up to the various catechisms which have been published since the Second Vatican Council, the most important one is the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a 900 page volume which has been revised in accordance with the official Latin text promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1997. This is the first new compendium of Catholic doctrine regar ...Read more

Dear Parishioners, On December 8, 1965 when the Second Vatican Council came to a close, parishes throughout the country were using textbooks such as those described these past two weeks, most of which were based on the structure and approach of the Baltimore Catechism. Vatican II brought with it a whole new understanding of our approach to theology, scripture and the ...Read more

Dear Parishioners, Last week we saw an historical background to the teachings, writing, homilies and allocutions of such great thinkers as St. Augustine, St. Peter Canisius, St. Robert Bellarmine and others which were the basis of the catechism of the Council of Trent. From that time on all publications used in the teaching of the faith were based on the teaching and ...Read more

Dear Parishioners, One of the meanings of the word "to catechize" is "to instruct by asking questions, receiving answers, offering explanations and corrections, especially in regard to religious faith. "From this Greek word there comes the word "catechism", a word so familiar to many of us and the dictionary defines "catechism" as ‘a manual or guide, especia ...Read more

Dear Parishioners, During these hazy, lazy days of summer the Church pauses to celebrate the feast of some significant saints. Although her feast will not be celebrated publicly this year because it falls on Sunday, the 22nd of July is the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, to whom was given the privilege of being the first to whom the risen Jesus appeared. The opening prayer ...Read more

Dear Parishioners, One day Christ was talking with his disciples and he gave them power and authority and he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and heal the sick...and they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the Good News and curing diseases. With these words Jesus was commissioning his disciples to go out and spread the Good News bringing God&rsqu ...Read more

Dear Parishioners When St. Paul wrote his second letter to the people of Corinth he said: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and constraints, for the sake of Christ, for when I am weak, then I am strong." No person lived out these words of St. Paul  ...Read more

Dear Parishioners June, with its graduations and socials following, always seem to pass by so quickly and we find ourselves once again in the month of July, July, the seventh month of the Julian calendar was named after the Roman general Julius Caesar. Prior to that time it was called Quintilis. Before we celebrate Independence Day on the fourth of July, the Church c ...Read more

Dear Parishioners, Today we celebrate the birthday of John the Baptist. St. John says "there was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came to bear witness to the light, to prepare an upright people for the Lord." John the Baptist is one of the greatest saints of the Church, arguably outranked only by the Blessed Virgin Mary herself. John's stature, like that of Mar ...Read more

Dear Parishioners, Today we pause in the midst of our busy lives to honor our fathers and to thank God for their care, protection and love. Father’s Day traces its origin to Spokane Washington where the daughter of a widowed father, one of six children named Sonora Smart Dodd, first celebrated a day set aside for fathers at the YMCA on June 10, 1910. Her fathe ...Read more