Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The month of November begins with the commemoration of the saints of the Church, those holy people whose faith, holiness, and work are placed before us as examples of virtue and Christian living. We are reminded that holiness, as St. Theresa of Calcutta said, is not a privilege for a few, but rather a simply duty for you and for me. In the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, the Second Vatican Council declared that the universal call to holiness applies to all Catholics in all states of life. We look to the…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I want to thank you for your enthusiastic response to our “church signing” last weekend. It was a true privilege to watch as so many of you literally made your mark on the church floor. Please know that the mark you made there is made a thousand times over by your presence as a member of this community of faith! After Masses, before writing the names of my own departed grandparents and a special prayer intention, I spent some time walking through the church looking at the names, remembrances, and prayer intentions you left.…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,   The first reading from the Book of Exodus is one of the most intriguing of Old Testament stories. Israel is engaged in battle with Amalek. Moses raises his hands in prayer, holding aloft the staff of the Lord. Remember that this staff is the one he carried when he went before Pharaoh to ask for freedom for the Israelites. It was this staff that he stretched out over the Red Sea and it parted, allowing Israel to cross safely to the other side. He carried the staff with him up the mountain to…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Ten lepers cry out to Jesus for mercy in the Gospel we hear this weekend. They are standing at a distance, as required by law. Leprosy being a contagious disease, those with the disease in the time of Jesus (and even today) were separated from their families and communities. When they cry out to our Lord, they do not ask to be healed, they ask simply to be treated with mercy, to be seen, spoken to, to be offered some hope. The Lord gives them far more than they ask, sending them to the…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The month of October is dedicated in a special way to the Rosary. I will yield my remaining space to the words of Pope St. John Paul II and his Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (16 Oct. 2002). “The Rosary of the Virgin Mary, which gradually took form in the second millennium under the guidance of the Spirit of God, is a prayer loved by countless Saints and encouraged by the Magisterium. Simple yet profound, it still remains, at the dawn of this third millennium, a prayer of great significance, destined to bring forth…read more