Dear Family!

The greatest treasure of Advent is Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! As the new Church Year begins, I urge you to take along the ‘Green’ (Treasures of the Season of Ordinary Time) to the ‘Purple’ (The Season of Advent)”. Yes we are back to the days of purple as the season shares certain qualities of another purple season - Lent.

Dear Family!

St. Ambrose wrote, “The superscription is written and placed above, not below the cross, because the government is upon his shoulders. What is this government if not his eternal power and Godhead? When asked, “Who are you?” he replied, “The beginning, who also speaks to you.” Let us read this superscription. “Jesus of Nazareth,” it says, “The King of the Jews.”

Dear Family!

I write to you about three things today. First is about the Committees: I am grateful to Deacon Enock and all the members of Liturgical Committee for recruiting new members for all ministries that are under this committee. A special thanks to all the new volunteers for these ministries.

Dear Family!

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us, “From the beginning, Christian faith in the resurrection has met with incomprehension and opposition. "On no point does the Christian faith encounter more opposition than on the resurrection of the body.” It is very commonly accepted that the life of the human person continues in a spiritual fashion after death. But how can we believe that this body, so clearly mortal, could rise to everlasting life?” (CCC 996)

Dear Family!

I thank you for coming out to support me at my installation. It was a joy to be with our Bishop and brother priests and deacons at mass. Bishop’s message will linger in my mind and heart for a long time when he said, “Priest is a person who believes in Jesus, so when you look for Fr. Antony, you don’t ‘believe in’ Fr. Antony, you ‘believe with’ Fr. Antony to believe in Jesus Christ.”

Dear Family!

I thank all of you for your prayers and support in welcoming our beloved Bishop during my installation as your pastor. I fondly remember all our former pastors Fr. James McKee, Fr. John Smith, Fr. Cornelius O’Reilly, Fr. Robert Burke, Msgr. Patrick Connolly, Msgr. Edward Egan, Msgr. William Gilfillan, Msgr. William Lannary, Msgr. Joseph Kozak, Msgr. Joseph Sheehan, Msgr. Michael Corona and Fr. John Barbella.

Dear Family!

Last Sunday Pope Francis canonized Giovanni Battista Scalabrini and Artemide Zatti. The Pope said, the two saints canonized today remind us of the importance of walking together and being able to give thanks.

Dear Family!

It was wonderful to see all the pets you brought in for a blessing last Sunday. We thank Father Pat for officiating the Blessing of Animals as he enjoys doing it. I also got to meet our RCIA candidates last Sunday and it is our responsibility to journey with them and pray for them. The Faith Formation classes have started and our children depend on our prayers especially the children who are preparing for Holy Communion and Confirmation.

Dear Family!

Last Saturday we made a pilgrimage to the National Shrine in Washington DC to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of our Diocese officiated by the Apostolic Nuncio and our Bishop with many priests, deacons and people. I sincerely thank all those people who made the pilgrimage.

Dear Family!

It was a great privilege to celebrate the funeral of our oldest parishioner, Lillian Marczi. She was 103 years old. At this time, we prayerfully remember and pray for her family and friends. May her soul rest in peace!

Dear Family!

“As this world (Earth) is not for those who are without wealth, so that world (Heaven) is not for those who are without kindness” (Thirukkural 247 written in my mother tongue around Jesus’ time). This is the focal point of this week’s liturgy. We continue to take great care on our financial security, we work hard at it. Do we take enough care on our spiritual security? This paves way to reflect about an important social evil of our time - Financial Slavery.

Dear Family!

The theme of the liturgy this Sunday focuses on ‘Forgiveness and Mercy.’ “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that. (Martin Luther King Jr)” God wants to go any length to bring the sinner back to a loving relationship with himself. God is the light that dispels the darkness from us, the darkness of sin, hatred and indifference that we exchange with God and people. God is the love that eliminates our hatred and heals us to wholeness and holiness.

Dear Family!

In the Gospel, Jesus’ words could have caused havoc to the people who read the Bible in English when he said, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”