Following upon last week’s article describing the Passion of Christ, for Easter we here consider how the four Gospels present Jesus risen from the dead. All four Gospels begin with the holy women coming to the tomb on Easter morning to mourn Jesus. There is a colossal earthquake, shaking heaven and earth. Angels come to […]
On this Sunday, the main Gospel reading focuses on the Passion in preparation for the Good Friday remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice for our salvation. Continuing last week’s reflection on the four Gospels, this article will comment on how each of them presents His sacrifice for our salvation.The Gospels of Matthew and Mark are similar in […]
As Holy Week and Easter approach, it is helpful to read about the crucifixion, death and Resurrection of Jesus, as described in the four Gospels. As outlined in a bulletin article from January, the four Gospels present the life of Jesus from different perspectives in order to bring out the full richness of this mystery. […]
As we continue through the Lenten season, it is helpful to renew our focus on the call to conversion and upon the sacrament of continual conversion, namely, Confession. As the Catechism notes, the Church describes this sacrament in five ways; the sacrament of conversion, the sacrament of forgiveness, Confession, Penance, and Reconciliation; and each of […]
This Monday, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Annunciation, the glorious event in which Mary becomes the Mother of God by accepting the message from the Archangel Gabriel through her our Savior will be born. At that moment, the divine Son took on human nature for our salvation and our glory. It is a […]
As most of you know, we have been planning on using about half or a little more of our $1 million savings on building a new church hall to provide more space for meals and parish gatherings and for the religious education classes and parish groups to meet. Our initial budget for the project was […]
During the retreat that I was on two weeks ago, the retreat master Fr. Peter Ryan, S.J, discussed the wisdom of discernment, especially drawing from the works of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order. Among other things, he pointed out that especially in the modern world, the struggle is not with […]
TRUTH, FREEDOM, TRADITION, FRONTIERS: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN AMERICA Saturdays, February 23 – May 4 From 1 to 2 in the church annex Fr. Horkan will give talks on the heroes and heroines, the growth and the struggles, the past and future of the […]
On March 6, we will celebrate Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season. The term “Lent” comes from the old English word lenchen, which means springtime. The most obvious basis for this term is that Spring always begins during the Lenten season. But there is also a deeper connection. As the fields and lawns […]
This article concludes this five part discussion of how to build, in a steady and consistent way, our friendship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. In particular, this article will focus on good works as the flourishing of faith. We must of course remember that our call to this friendship and finally to glory […]