Are you aware that some critical services offered by the Catholic Church have been cut as a result of recent executive orders signed by the president? One result is the defunding of USAID, the main international humanitarian and development arm of the U.S. government, which has been providing about 50 percent of the funding of Catholic Relief Services (CRS). CRS assists the poor and vulnerable overseas, including emergency relief and human development initiatives.

Matt Bensman has been on staff with us here at Holy Family Parish since August 2018 when he began serving as our Youth Faith Formation Minister / Social Media Coordinator. Later, in January 2024, he began serving as our Director of Family Faith Formation. Over the course of time since then, he has discerned that he needs to spend more time caring for his young family including his special needs son, Theo.

I came across a saint I knew nothing about recently reading Matthew Kelly’s “Saint of the Day” for Jan. 29 – that I share with you. It is St. Gildas the Wise (6th century). While we don’t know a whole lot about St. Gildas, we do know that he was “of the truth.” That may be why he came to be known as Gildas the Wise. After all, wisdom is truth lived. St. Gildas lived the truth by condemning the corruption of British kings and clergy in his book, On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain.

There are many folks around us looking for hope. Maybe you’re one of them. Some have lost loved ones or are dealing with a terminal illness, others are alienated from family members, or have seriously messed up their lives having made bad choices, or have faced daunting challenges they have had no control over such as a loss of a job. They long for some comfort and help to get them through their despair.