Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Two brothers, two verbal responses, two courses of action. In this parable, the desired outcome is clear, but it might help to make it explicit. Our Lord wants our “yes” to God to be reflected in our actions. One brother gives a “yes” to his father, but fails to act on it, while the other refuses his father’s request but later chooses to do what was asked. In the end, our actions matter most. We can rattle off every catechetical factoid in the book, list every saint from A to Z, and quote the…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The prophet Isaiah tells us today to “[s]eek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near.” He goes on to remind us that our way of thinking and viewing the world is not always the same as the way God sees us: “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts.” This reality is not always easy for us to digest; we often try to fit God into our conceptual boxes, forgetting the infinite difference…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The Gospel last Sunday showed us the importance of offering a word of correction to a sinner. If your brother sins against you, Jesus says, we must tell him his fault. It is an act of charity to tell someone their sin, as it opens up the possibility of reconciliation and conversion. Sin tears, and separates us not only from God, but from one another and even, interiorly, from our true selves. When we follow our Lord’s command to speak to our brothers and sisters, neighbors, and others to offer charitable fraternal correction, we…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Starting last week and continuing over the next several weeks, you may notice some new faces in the sanctuary. Fr. Brendan has trained a new group of altar servers and they are getting their first experiences of serving at the liturgy. They are stepping into an incredibly important role which can, at first, be intimidating. If you happen to see some of our new servers after Mass, you might share a word of encouragement with them. And if you have a child in your family who is interested in serving at the altar, please…read more