Pastor's Corner

This Monday is Memorial Day, a holiday on which we remember in a special way all of the men and women who served in the armed forces and sacrificed their lives protecting our country and its freedoms. It was originally a day to remember the lives lost in the Civil War, but it was eventually broadened to encompass all wars and armed conflicts. Sadly, there have been many of them over the course of our nation’s history.

While speaking to the College of Cardinals last Saturday in his first official address since his election, Pope Leo XIV explained his choice of papal name, noting that Pope Leo XIII “addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution” with his encyclical, Rerum Novarum. “In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor.”

Happy Mother’s Day! Today also is World Day of Prayer for Vocations. “Every vocation to the priesthood comes from the heart of God, but it passes through the heart of a mother.” (St. Pius X). I think that applies to other vocations as well, such as a religious sister or brother, a Permanent Deacon, and a spouse/parent in the Sacrament of Marriage. God has a plan for every child. He wants them to be happy, and their true happiness is found in discovering God’s plan for their lives—their vocation—and following it wholeheartedly.

It’s interesting to hear people of different faiths, as well as Catholics, talking about the election of a new pope. Certainly, it seems to have captured people’s imagination, and the news media is captivated by the traditions surrounding the election. There are all kinds of speculation about who the new pope will be and what he will be like. Trusting in the guidance of the Holy Spirit who has been with our Church since Pentecost, we can have great hope that he will be what our Church needs in this present time.

We mourn with fellow Catholics and many others throughout the world the passing of our Holy Father, Pope Francis who died on Monday, April 21. His compassion for the poor and marginalized, in imitation of the Lord Jesus, drove him to promote justice and respect for the dignity of every human being. In his last public message, known as “Urbi et Orbi,” (To the City and to the World), delivered this past Easter Sunday by his master of ceremonies, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, Pope Francis challenged the leaders of our country and from around the world to care for the vulnerable and needy in their midst, and not yield to the “logic of fear.”

Happy Easter! Welcome, have no worries! We've reinforced our church roof before Easter knowing that some people may feel it would cave in when they walked through the doors.

Today, we celebrate that Jesus is alive! Jesus, who is God, became a human being, was unfairly put to death, rose from the dead, and assures us that we who die believing in Him can also share a new life after death.

This Sunday, Palm/Passion Sunday, begins Holy Week, the time in our liturgical calendar when we celebrate the central mysteries of our faith, what the Church calls the Paschal Mystery – Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection. We reflect upon what God has done for us in the unique expression of His mercy and love through Jesus’ offering of Himself in sacrifice to the Father for the forgiveness of our sins. Having triumphed over evil, sin, and death upon His resurrection from the dead, Jesus gives us hope that we too can triumph over all that would otherwise overcome us.

How are you growing spiritually this Lent? Are you noticing any improvement in your effort to “think with the mind of Jesus and love with His heart?” (Our parish Vision Statement) One of the three traditional practices of Lent is “almsgiving.” This is often equated with giving to the poor. However, we can easily be tempted to check off that box by making a sizable donation to a worthy charity.

Recently, I received an email from a parishioner who shared with me how troubled she feels about what she’s witnessing going on in our country at the present time. Her daughter’s boyfriend works for the Justice Department in Washington, DC and he says it’s “really bad” there. No one knows what’s coming next.

It’s understandable for people to be on edge when thousands of jobs have been lost, when some of the guardrails that protect citizens are being dismantled.

Recently, I’ve become more aware of the caregivers in our midst who walk among us often unnoticed, but who are providing heroic care in rather challenging circumstances. They include parents and grandparents caring for chronically ill or disabled children; husbands and wives caring for ill, disabled, or dying spouses; grown children caring for elderly parents; relatives, friends, and neighbors providing quiet care and support to disabled people and elders living alone.

Are you aware that the Catholic Church is currently in a Jubilee Year, which will continue until January 6, 2026, the Feast of Epiphany? Pope Francis inaugurated the Jubilee Year of Hope 2025 by opening the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on the evening of Dec. 24. He explains in his Bull of Indiction that the Holy Door is opened “to invite everyone to an intense experience of the love of God that awakens in hearts the sure hope of salvation in Christ.”

What have you decided to do for Lent? Traditionally, we reflect on what Jesus came to do for us. By suffering and dying on the Cross, Jesus has taken upon himself our sins and the sins of the world, which expresses God’s great mercy and forgiveness. In Lent, we prepare to renew our Baptismal promises at Easter by coming to terms with the ways we have not always renounced evil and sin, and have not put God at the center of our lives. We haven’t always nurtured the gift of our Baptism.

As of this writing, Tue, Feb 25, health updates about our Holy Father, Pope Francis indicate that he is slowly improving from his recent health challenges, although he is not “out of the woods.” He did meet with some Church officials to carry out some of his responsibilities from the hospital. I offer the following for you to use in your prayer for his continued healing.