Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Among the most frequently asked practical questions about the Mass is a query regarding the source of the prayers and actions used during each Mass. How do you know what to do and say? Does the priest just make it up as he goes? From this line of questioning comes an understanding of the purpose of liturgical, ordered prayer as contrasted to (not opposed to) para-liturgical or personal prayer. The simple answer is that the Church herself gives us the prayers and actions of the Mass, and the purpose of liturgical, ordered, ritual prayer…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, This week I will begin with a story that I found very uplifting. One day last week after morning Mass, a woman stopped to tell me something about the gates of our new altar rail. She remembers them in a deeply personal way from her youth. She confirmed that they came from an orphanage in Brooklyn and then said, “Father, when I was a. teenager, I used to volunteer there and help the Sisters. My father would bring me over and I would help take care of the children, with school work, with prayers…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The second reading at Mass is taken from the beginning of St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. It consists of two sentences, one of which is a classic Pauline run-on semi-sentence. In these few lines, Paul manages to express two things: that he is writing a letter to the Corinthians, and that he wishes them peace in Jesus Christ. To be perfectly honest, it’s a bit of an odd choice for readings. Why doesn’t the Church give us a few more verses to fill out the greeting? I have no idea. The Second…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, This weekend is one of great joy for our parish community. First, we celebrate on Saturday evening the rededication of our newly renovated and restored church with Bishop Frank J. Caggiano. Second, the Church marks the conclusion of the Christmas season with the feast of our Lord’s baptism, and as a parish community, we celebrate all the children baptized here in the last calendar year. These small children testify to the great gift of life and to the love of their families. Thus, in celebrating the baptism of Jesus, we can also be encouraged…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, In 1806, construction began on the first Catholic cathedral in the United States of America. Now known as the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, this beautiful church in Baltimore was designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the first architect to practice in the United States and the designer of the US Capitol. The first American bishop, John Carroll, a cousin of the only Catholic signatory to the Declaration of Independence Charles Carroll, wanted to celebrate the newly acquired right of Catholics to worship publicly. Indeed, prior to…read more