Reflections (Page 42)

4th Sunday of Advent – English & Spanish

Sunday’s Readings: Micah 5:1-4; Psalm 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45  From the Pastor’s Desk ….     Blessed are you… In today’s Gospel, Elizabeth calls Mary blessed. One definition of blessed is holy; another is favored by God. Mary is all of these things – blessed, holy and favored by God – because God chooses her…

3rd Sunday of Advent – English & Spanish

Sundays Readings: Zephaniah 3:14-18; Isaiah 12:2-6; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:10-18 From the Pastor’s Desk ….   The Song of Happiness Not all is penitence, pain, and death as we journey through this desert. Today’s liturgy pauses to ring a hymn of joy. How can we not be delighted when the Son of God, who comes to save us, is near. Jesus is coming, Jesus is with us. With…

2nd Sunday of Advent – English & Spanish

Sundays Readings: Baruch 5:1-9; Psalms 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6; Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6 From the Pastor’s Desk ….     The Word in the Desert The Church continues to prepare the way of Our Lord for His Coming. The desert is a place of solitude, hardships of life, and of temptation. The desert educates one that an essential part of life will require renunciations, detachments, and a radical change of…

1st Sunday of Advent

Sundays Readings: Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalms 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14; 1 Thes 3:12-4:2; Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 From the Pastor’s Desk…    A Time to Wait and Hope. We call Advent an “ardent time”, a time of contrasts. Advent begins the liturgical year, yet it is already speaking to us of the end of time. We prepare ourselves for the birth of Christ, His first arrival, yet…

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday’s Readings: Daniel 12:1-3; Psalm 16:5, 8, 9-10, 11, Hebrews 10:11-14, 18; Mark 13:24-32 From the Pastor’s Desk…  Until the end of the world When we suddenly find ourselves in difficult times, due to the mysterious or to the unknown, these times may provoke in us a mixture of fear and hope. This occurs to us when we glimpse the imminence of death. Death is…

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday’s Readings 1 Kings 17:10-16; Psalm 146:7, 8-10; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44 From the Pastor’s Desk…  “We trust because we believe” We all experience times when trusting in God just doesn’t seem to make sense. It may be the sudden death of a spouse or a child, learning one has a terminal illness or being laid…

Solemnity of All Saints

Sunday’s Readings Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14; PS 24:1BC-2, 3-4AB, 5-6; 1-John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12 From the Pastor’s Desk…  Feast of All Saints We start this article with the question: Who are the saints? I think a little girl in catechism class gave a good definition in answer to this question: “Saints are those men and women that are…

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday’s Readings Jeremiah 31:7-9; PS 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6; Hebrews 5:1-6; Mark 10:46-52 From the Pastor’s Desk…  Blindness The Gospel of St. Mark does not only describe a great miracle, but it also preaches a catechesis that invites us to change and to be converted. When the Teacher calls him, he throws aside his cloak, jumps up and runs toward Him. His obscure eyes are opened and…