Dear Family!

As we come to the close of the first part of the Season of the Ordinary Time after the 8th Sunday (next weekend) and begin the Season of Lent on Ash Wednesday (March 5th) the Gospel especially continues to focus on ‘Discipline of a Christian’ in the Sermon on the Plain (Luke’s Gospel). This Sunday the emphasis is on ‘speech’. The Christian Discipline requires that our speech be one of kindness, compassion, and forgiveness as opposed to divisive and judgmental.

Dear Family!

The Gospel writer Matthew drew parallels between Jesus and Moses. The Gospel is organized around five discourses just as the Torah is organized into five scrolls. The Sermon on the Mount could be compared to Moses' experience on Mount Sinai. Luke's theology and theme focuses on the universality of Jesus. Jesus' concern for the gentiles and social outcastes is the main focus in the Gospel of Luke.

Dear Family!

The word for fish in Greek is Ichthus which is a symbolic word used by the early Christians. It can be read as an ACROSTIC, a word formed from the 1st letters of many words. Ichthus has the meaning of Jesus Christ, Son of God, the Savior. They could not openly practice their religion as the persecutions were on. Ichthus was their secret sacred symbol used to recognize another believer. Fish is another word for Jesus.

Dear Family!

This Sunday instead of celebrating the 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time, we commemorate the Solemnity of The Presentation of the Lord. The point of this feast is summarized in the instructions of the Roman Missal, “Today is the blessed day when Jesus was presented in the Temple by Mary and Joseph, outwardly he was fulfilling the Law, but in reality, he was coming to meet his believing people”. This day marks the 40th day after Jesus’ birth.

Dear Family!

This Sunday, the Universal Church celebrates the ‘Word of God’ Sunday. Cardinal Sarah wrote of it as Prefect for the Congregation of Divine Worship in 2020, “The Sunday of the Word of God, instituted by Pope Francis and to be held every year on the third Sunday of Ordinary Time, (Motu Proprio Aperuit Illis of Pope Francis, 2019) reminds us, pastors and faithful alike, of the importance and value of Sacred Scripture for the Christian life, as well as the relationship between the word of God and the liturgy:

Dear Family!

January 18th-25th every year is devoted to praying for Christian Unity. More on this topic in the Memorials & Feast section of the Bulletin. As we step into Ordinary Time, we are still getting to know the personality of Jesus. Jesus begins his public ministry with his mission statement ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…to bring good news to the poor’.

Dear Family!

The feast of the Baptism of the Lord is the last celebration of the Christmas season and on Monday we begin ‘Ordinary Time’. Every year we celebrate the Ordinary Time twice: Once before Lent and the longest one after Lent & Easter. As I explained to you earlier that there is nothing ordinary about these coming Ordinary Time weeks.

Dear Family!

As the Spirit of Christmas continues to fill our minds and hearts, we celebrate this beautiful feast of Epiphany. The Catechism teaches us that “The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Savior of the world” (CCC528). The Catechism also teaches that Epiphany also celebrates two other major events in which Jesus’s messianic identity is revealed: Jesus’ baptism and Jesus at the wedding in Cana.

Dear Family!

Merry Christmas to all of you! Blessings on this Feast of Holy Family! The word ‘Christmas’ dates back to 12th Century. It was two words before - Christes maesse and it became Christemasse. We understand it literally meant ‘Christ’s mass’ referred to the special service to honor the birth of our Savior.

Dear Family!

From the 17th to 23rd of December, in the Liturgy of the Hours, the Church uses what is known as the ‘O Antiphons’. With the long-standing tradition in the Catholic Church, we use the different titles for the Messiah each day namely: O Wisdom, O Lord, O Root of Jesse, O Key of David, O Rising Sun, O King of the Nations, and O Emmanuel. These titles are also understood as the fulfillment of the Prophecy in the person of Jesus Christ.

Dear Family!

I express my gratitude to all of you for participating in our Advent Penance Service, especially in making sure our children are given this beautiful opportunity in their preparation for the upcoming Holy Days. We thank the Faith Formation Team for preparing our Children for this important opportunity.

Dear Family!

As we delve deeper into the season of Advent the theme of journeying together inspires us. The first reading describes the promised joyful return of the people of God from the Babylonian exile which looks to the future of returning to the New Jerusalem where Christ the King will rule in our hearts. In the second reading St. Paul encourages the community in Philippi to discern the will of the God for the community in order to prepare themselves in holiness for the “the Day of Christ”.

Dear Family!

Once again we are at the threshold of the Church’s New Year celebrations. We thank God for all God’s blessings on us in 2024; all that we accomplished together and all the ministry we did together to glorify God. As we step into the New Year, we ask God to be with us in all our plannings and administration this year, the planned projects for this year, all committee meetings, parish spiritual visions, and other pastoral activities.