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.

Dear Family!

Thanksgiving celebration is around the corner. In reading history, it caught my attention that President George Washington was a deeply religious man ‘under God’. He writes, “Both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer.”

Dear Family!

This Sunday is the second to the last Sunday of the church year. The following Sunday we will celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. The readings logically speak about the ‘last things’ (Eschatology). The parable of the fig tree sprouting its leaves points us to late spring and early summer which reminds us of good times for the people. For us Catholic Christians, the end of the world is not God losing control of the earth, rather God bringing things to a triumphant end.

Dear Family!

The elections are completed! We congratulate and wish the new administration all the very best and we pray for all our leaders. As public service demands self-giving from leaders, the readings focus on the art of self-giving. The first reading and the gospel both teach us that is not what you give but why you give. If the motive behind our self-giving is expecting some sort of a reward, we need to look into the life of Jesus more closely.

Dear Family!

The readings this Sunday focus on loving God & neighbor and how they cannot be separated. The Catechism teaches us that “Jesus summed up man's duties towards God in this saying: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This immediately echoes the solemn call: “Hear (Shema), O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD.” God has loved us first.