Fourth Sunday of Easter

04-30-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

The Fourth Sunday of Easter is traditionally known as ‘The Good Shepherd Sunday.’ All three years (A, B & C) we read from the same parable (John 10). The sacred writers of the Old Testament beautifully presented God (Holy Name of God) as the Good Shepherd and in the sacred writers of the New Testament presented Jesus as the Good Shepherd since they perfectly understood and believed that Jesus is the incarnation of God the Father, revealing us His identity by what he does as the Good Shepherd. In the same way ‘the sheep’ or ‘the flock’ are the land and people of Israel in the Old Testament and ‘The Church’ in the New Testament.

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3rd Sunday of Easter

04-23-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

We are witnesses! This is the theme we reflect and pray about this third Sunday of Easter. Every age has seen its own witnessing spirit of Christians after the Resurrection of Jesus. The word ‘Martyr’ in Greek means one who bears witness (to Christ). This was the standard in which the witnessing spirit was lived out in the early church. Witnessing spirit ranges from inflicting pain on oneself to extreme measures of penance in the early church. The middle ages saw the ascent of the spiritual journey, the dark night of the soul, radical Religious Life in poverty, chastity, and obedience. What is the nature of today’s witnessing?

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Sunday of Divine Mercy

04-16-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

Happy Divine Mercy Sunday to all of you! As I shared with you in my Easter Vigil homily encouraging new members of our parish family, the National Eucharistic Revival ministry has organized a seven-week reflection series every Thursday from Divine Mercy Sunday to Pentecost, April 13 to May 25.

Seven prominent Catholics are writing articles for the series: Archbishop Charles C. Thompson of Indianapolis; Sister Maria Miguel Wright of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist; biblical scholar and author Jeff Cavins; Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle; Canadian priest and author Father Harrison Ayre; Kately Javier, coordinator for Adult Formation and Hispanic catechesis for the Washington Archdiocese; and Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

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Easter Sunday

04-09-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

I wish you all a wonderful, grace-filled Easter! As this is the most important day for the Church, let us be mindful of the essence of what we believe! “Because Easter Sunday is the commemoration of Christ’s Resurrection, this day is the greatest solemnity of the liturgical year” (CCC 1169).

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Palm Sunday

04-02-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

First of all, a word about Church’s instruction on veiling of statues and images - this is what the Roman Missal teaches us: “In the Dioceses of the United States, the practice of covering crosses and images throughout the church from [the fifth] Sunday [of Lent] may be observed. Crosses remain covered until the end of the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, but images remain covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.” The Church recommends this practice to ‘heighten our senses’ and build within us a longing for Easter Sunday. This tradition can further be practiced at home - you could also cover the statues and images that are at home!

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Fifth Sunday of Lent

03-26-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

The recent solemnity we celebrated yesterday (Annunciation) reveals the God who saves (literal meaning of the name Jesus) through Mary’s act of faith. How true are the words of Augustine? “God who created us without our permission cannot save us without our active cooperation.”

We come across 7 ‘signs’ (Miracles) in John’s Gospel obviously reminds us of the fullness and perfection of God’s total revelation in Jesus. Last Sunday we read about the healing of the man born blind (6th sign) and this Sunday we read about the bodily raising of Lazarus (7th sign). The gradual manifestation of Jesus the source of life becomes clear in raising Lazarus to life. This revelation leads us to the sign of all signs - in the resurrection of Jesus.

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Fourth Sunday of Lent

03-19-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

As we continue to thank Mrs. Donna Kucinski for her service to our school and children, we thank her role in preparing the school budget for next year which is approved and presented to the diocese. From the administrative point of view it is vital that the school enrollment be strong (over 180 children) so that the parish finances could be managed better. I am reaching out to you to prayerfully consider enrolling your children in our school, as I mentioned last week in my article, “Our school has the best of facilities and staff and the best part is that our children learn with faith.”

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Third Sunday of Lent

03-12-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

It is my sad duty to announce to you that our school principal Mrs. Donna Kucinski will be resigning this year. I respect her decision and thank her long and productive career in our school. Her dedication and sacrifices in sharing faith and knowledge to our children will never be forgotten. We wish her well and continue to pray for the repose of the soul of her mother and also to pray for her family.

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Second Sunday of Lent

03-05-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

I thank all our young people who have received their Sacrament of Confirmation. At the Mass, I have encouraged all of you to begin your ‘public ministry’ like Jesus after receiving the Holy Spirit. We have begun Youth Ministry in our parish after COVID. I invite you all to be part of the youth group. As a community our possibilities are endless. Our parish staff will be reaching out to you in the near future. I request you to join our parish youth.

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First Sunday of Lent

02-26-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

I thank you for your generous support of the second collection for Turkey and Syria. Your prayers and monetary help certainly is a source of inspiration to them as they rebuild their lives. I also thank our Faith Formation Director Escarlen Duran and all our Faith Formation Teachers in preparing our children for sacraments especially for Confirmation this year. A special word of thanks to our Principal and the teachers who helped prepare our Confirmation children this year. It was a memorable mass with our Bishop officiating with our parish community.

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Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

02-19-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

It has been painful watching our brothers and sisters in Turkey and Syria suffer on account of earthquakes. The two earthquakes both measuring 7.0 magnitude resulted in more than 20,000 deaths and continue to climb further as rescue teams doing their best in saving lives.

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Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

02-12-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

This week from the 7th to 14th of February, our country is observing the National Marriage Week (14th February is Valentine’s Day). This tradition became part of our Christian life when the US Catholic Bishops’ Conference (USCCB) in 2010 launched it to strengthen marriage in communities and influencing modern culture.

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Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

02-05-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

The 40th Catholic School Week in our country aims at ‘faith, excellence and service’ as it has always been over the years. Catholic education has always had a great impact in shaping and developing our society. Our Bishop in his support of Catholic Education pointed out the Wall Street Journal’s test results over the past few years for Catholic School students are higher compared to public schools.

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