On this Fifth Sunday of Lent we hear the gospel story of Lazarus, a close friend of Jesus, being raised from the dead, and we also hear of the questions that Lazarus’s sisters, Martha and Mary, have to face in the midst of their brother’s death. These questions, for many folks, will be the obstacles to faith which the Sunday scrutinies speak—especially this fifth Sunday.

Lenten Penance Service Wednesday March 22 at 7 p.m., our parish will host a Lenten Penance Service for all Catholics wishing to confess their sins for the coming Easter celebrations. There will be three (3) priests available, Fr. Michael Whyte, Fr. John Gancarz, and Fr. John Melnick. We will have a brief prayer service followed by individual confessions throughout the Church.

This Sunday, the third in Lent, we hear the story of the Samaritan women at the well, where Jesus asks her for a drink of water. In and of itself, this act of a Jewish man asking a Samaritan woman for a drink of water is beyond all the cultural norms of the day. In fact, it is beyond what was normal in Greco-Roman times. It was after all, Plato whose philosophy said that women were inferior to men in all aspects—physically, intellectually, spiritually, and morally—they had no autonomy

On March 16th, Thursday, our Youth Ministry team will head out on their Boston Mission Trip where they will interact with God’s children who are in need of food, shelter, dignity and human compassion. One of the things the missionaries will do is to pray in thanksgiving for all of us, our parish, for your generosity in supporting them on this trip and in all their Christian endeavors throughout the year.

In the Season of Lent we are called to recognize the needs of others and to respond with a generous “Yes,” making Justice happen in particular situations. As we come to Mass each Sunday and gaze upon Christ being made real in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, we also see the “backdrop” of the Beatitudes on the wall, THE blueprint of our Christian lives, summed up in one word, “Action.” We are each called to “do something.”

Genesis, our first reading, (2:7-9; 3:1-7), tells us of the creative power of God: He created human beings. He created the Garden of Eden, with all the trees of beauty and food for life. He created Wisdom (Truth). We see the good created by God. Genesis also tells us that while the good, formed by the Wisdom or Truth of God, exists for benefit of humanity, evil, which is formed in the absence of God, is meant to temp humanity and to provide untruth or misinformation as a counter to the Truth

I nominated parishioner Craig Taylor to receive the archdiocesan 2023 St. Joseph Medal of Appreciation and Archbishop Leonard P. Blair has confirmed this nomination, which shall be bestowed at the Cathedral of St. Joseph on March 19, 2023 at 3 p.m. Our parishioners are invited to attend.

Next Wednesday—is Ash Wednesday—and we enter into the Lenten Season. But this Sunday we hear in the Matthean Gospel a new teaching of the Lord, one meant to move us from the insulating safety and security of what we know and are comfortable with, i.e., our attachments to like-minded peoples, cultures and ways, and overcome the natural indifference to others by following God’s Will.

The season of Lent is a Catholic liturgical season consisting of forty days of fasting, prayer, and penitence beginning at Ash Wednesday and concluding at sundown on Holy Thursday. The official liturgical color for the season of Lent is violet....The observance of Lent is related to the celebration of Easter. In the first three centuries of the Christian era, most Christians prepared for Easter by fasting and praying for three days. In some places this was extended to the entire week before Easter (now known as “Holy Week“)

Today’s Matthean Gospel informs us that Christ did not come to abolish the Law but rather came to infuse the meaning of the Law with His Love, His Passion and provide for the depth and breadth of God’s commands. He came to complete the Law. If God so loved the world (John 3:16), then what is the purpose of His commandments and His Teachings through Christ? Is it not a search for the excellence of all? And with His Love for all created peoples and things, then does God not wish to give to us all that we need to be reconciled with Him for all eternity?

Our readings this weekend really tie into the news of the day. In many urban settings in these United States, homelessness—or as we are supposed to call them, “the unsheltered,” is an overwhelming problem. And we might think, “How may I solve this problem?”

This is one of those topics that needs no research to back it up, as it just takes common sense. There is an old adage that states, “Do as I say, not as I do.” And that sums up why so many of our Catholic brothers and sisters don’t attend Church, practice their faith, or even know the rudiments of the Catholic teachings. And what is the end result of that? Ignorance of faith, and ignorance of God and His Love.

The Boston Mission Trip Silent Auction and Bake Sale will be held after every Mass on the weekend of Saturday, February 4th through Sunday, February 5th. The Silent Auction will remain open until 10:00 a.m. on Monday, February 6, 2023

Returning to Scripture, Galatians 5:22-23 says: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.” There it is. One clear difference between joy and happiness. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. Happiness is not. You can make yourself feel happy. Eat a favorite meal, complete a long-term project, take a nap on a warm summer day in a hammock. Do things like that and you will feel happy.

The New Year provides so much hope and opportunity for us: from getting in shape and changing old, bad habits into newer and better ones; it is a time for us to raise-the-bar of how we are going to live our lives anew, of being better, doing better and seeking better things for us and our families— in finding true joy.

This weekend we shall celebrate the feast of the Nativity of the Lord, Savior of the World, and we look forward to hosting you and your loved ones as we Praise God for the Christmas gift of His Son and the Salvation of the world. As we are returning to a more normal way of life after the Covid Pandemic, that now for most of us it is a flu-like illness, and for those who have underlying health issues we know that we are called to take some additional precautions

We are entering the fourth Sunday in Advent, and from the 16th of December onward the readings at the Masses have moved from the preparation for Christ’s Second Coming, the end days, to the Nativity of the Lord, His birth on Christmas Day and the intersecting of humanity and Divinity. So let us focus on the meaning of the birth of Christ—for us as an individual, as The Church, and for the world.

Our Advent Giving Trees, complete with the donation envelopes, are once again benefiting the Knights of Malta Mobile House of Care and our parish’s Neighbors in Need Fund.

The Practice or Habitus of Prayer To paraphrase St. Thomas Aquinas, habitus matters. For when we practice something we become better at that something and then we become what we have practice, whether we are taking about a virtue or a vice. When it comes to prayer, there is no time like the present.

“On the last Sunday of the liturgical year, Catholics celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. A relative newcomer to the Church calendar — established in the 20th century — this feast is designed to give special recognition to the dominion Christ our Lord has over all aspects of our lives. On the last Sunday of the liturgical year, Catholics celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. A relative newcomer to the Church calendar — established in the 20th century — this feast is designed to give special recognition to the dominion Christ our Lord has over all aspects of our lives.