Pastor's Blog

As Death Comes Close: Approaching the moment of earthly death is an uncomfortable time for most of us. God gives us the Sacraments in our life so that we have a concrete real experience of God’s presence with us. The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is the Sacrament that God gives us to experience His comforting presence when we are seriously ill or approaching death. “Ap ...Read more

Last weekend I had the privilege of traveling to Colorado to preach a spiritual retreat for Permanent Deacons and their wives. As you know, in our Church there are two kinds of deacons: Permanent and Transitional. Deacon Paul and Deacon Jim are Permanent Deacons. To be a deacon is the call they have received from God. A Transitional Deacon is someone who is going to be a priest, is in “t ...Read more

CATHOLIC PARISHES ARE GROWING! What is the secret behind the growth in Catholic parishes throughout our country? In studies seeking to understand why some parishes are growing - and needing to build larger facilities - three factors have emerged as key to vibrant parishes: excellence in music, proactively welcoming, and a homily with a concrete message. And I listed those factor ...Read more

Dear Parishioners My first few weeks here serving as Administrator both at St. Mary Parish in Hull and St. Anthony Parish in Cohasset has been very welcoming. Not really having any familiarity with either parish in the past a new opportunity for serving the Church came through a simple phone call back in May. I am always ( so far ) happy to say yes when Cardinal Sean asks me through our Pe ...Read more

Dear Parishioners Today we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, called by some the birthday of the Church. Last Thursday we celebrated the day when Christ ascended into heaven, leaving his small band of followers to carry out the work he had commissioned them to do. But before he left his followers, Jesus assured them that he was not simply leaving them on their own. Rather his community wou ...Read more

Dear Parishioners These must have been interesting days in the lives of the early disciples of the Lord. They had barely recovered from the shock of the passion, crucifixion and death of Jesus when he appeared to the women at the tomb and to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. For forty days he had been with them, and suddenly, in fulfillment of his words to them he had ascended to  ...Read more

Dear Parishioners As we hasten toward the end of Easter time (and the end of my time as well) the gospel for this Sixth Sunday of Easter, like last week, contains words spoken by Jesus during his last supper before his passion. The words this Sunday may well be among the richest and most weighty he spoke that evening. The Lord seems to skip from one topic to another, but each topic i ...Read more

Dear Parishioners These days following the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb must have been challenging, yet curious, days for the apostles and the followers of Jesus. For forty days he would be with them until he ascends into heaven, and during this time we discover that during this time Jesus’ resurrection has inaugurated a new era in human history. John’s gospel this week ...Read more

Dear Parishioners Yesterday our parish celebrated one of the most spiritually rewarding events which every parish observes at this time of the year, the reception of First Communion by our second grade children. It has been the custom in our parish to celebrate the reception of the Eucharist for the first time by our children on the Sunday before Mother’s Day. This tradition pre-dat ...Read more

Dear Parishioners, Because Easter is such a significant feast, we observe an Octave following the feast eight days of special liturgy of the Resurrection. However, once the Octave is over, we enter into the Easter Season. The white vestments are worn, Easter week-day liturgies are celebrated until the Feast of Pentecost, after which we will resume Ordinary Time. During these weeks, however ...Read more