Pastor's Blog

Dear Parishioners You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He is risen, he is not here, behold the place where they laid him. As we celebrate this Easter Sunday, we relive the central act of our faith. With our mind’s eye we can picture the impact of the angel’s voice: He is not here, for he has risen as He said…" The Acts of the Apostles, the writings of ...Read more

Dear Parishioners In Rome, at the end of a conclave when a new pope has been elected, the Cardinal Carmelengo appears on the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square and announces to the assembled crowd and the entire world habemus papem, "we have a pope." The call came here last Thursday with the news "habemus pastor", we have a pastor, which news was to be held until Sunday. And so, ...Read more

Dear Parishioners Last Sunday the story of the prodigal son taught us that authentic justice does not lie in equitable remuneration, but rather in mercifulness. Today’s Gospel repeats the same message, but in an even clearer way. Applying it to a specific incident. This is not simply an intellectual contest between Jesus and his opponents, it involves a living person. The story abou ...Read more

Dear Parishioners, As we celebrate the Third Sunday of Lent, we begin to see the sequence of events in the gospel readings. On the first Sunday of Lent the temptations in the desert warned us about the confrontations we would have during Lent. Last week the transfiguration showed us the meaning and thrust of this confrontation. Today we have heard an urgent call to penance. "If you do not  ...Read more

Dear Parishioners Last week on the First Sunday of Lent we heard about Jesus' sojourn in the desert and the temptations he faced. It was a revelation and a prediction of our own confrontation with evil, of the temptations we would face during Lent. The transfiguration of Jesus which we have just experienced in the company of Peter, James and John, presents a new aspect of the same reality ...Read more

Dear Parishioners There is a popular hymn: "They will know we are Christians by our love…". On Wednesday last they knew we were Christians by the ashes marked on our foreheads as we entered our Lenten journey in a very visible way Today, on this First Sunday of Lent, we are presented with Luke’s account of the reason for our forty day experience of prayer, fasting and penance ...Read more

Dear Parishioners As we observe Ash Wednesday this week we enter into another Lenten period in our lives. During the following forty days we prepare through prayer and sacrifice for the glorious feast of Easter. Last year as we approached Ash Wednesday Pope Francis wrote: "Lent is a new beginning, a path leading to the certain goal of Easter, Christ's victory over death. This season urgen ...Read more

Dear Parishioners, When the women arrived at the tomb, a young man said: "Do not be afraid. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised, he is not here." With these simple words, a new chapter in salvation is opened. For Christ, through his resurrection has conquered sin and death and has opened for all time the gates of heaven for all who believe. We have endured t ...Read more

Dear Parishioners, A popular devotional prayer during Lent is the Stations of the Cross. Many of us walked this journey to Calvary as children. We offer it each Friday evening during Lent, our children experience it as part of their Religious Education class and on this Friday, as the world pauses to celebrate Good Friday and the death of Christ, we will walk the Stations with the childre ...Read more

Dear Parishioners, One day last week the scripture reading for the Divine Office was taken from Psalm 69, and in the wake of the storms, the loss of power and the flooding, I thought how fitting it was, what proof that the scriptures are ever old and ever new. The psalmist wrote: "Save me, God, for the waters have reached my neck. I have sunk into the mire of the deep where there is no fo ...Read more