Dear Family!

The readings remind us of the importance of being God’s collaborators. Moses and Jesus faced with the question of those who are working for God and those who are not. Those who seem to be working for God in fact may not be, and those who seem not to be working for God in fact may be. We see that happen in Church leadership - Are your leaders caring for you? Do they lead you by example in being trustworthy, responsible, and humble in their service to the Church?

Dear Family!

We began our Faith Formation classes last Tuesday! With God’s guidance and the wisdom of our Catechists, we can share our Christ-Experience with our children and form them in faith. We have some large classes of children, especially our 8th grade both in School and in Faith Formation. I extend my heartfelt thanks to the Faith Formation Team for all their dedication and service to our parish community.

Dear Family!

The theme of the readings this Sunday invites us to the total obedience in taking up the Cross of Christ. That is our mission as Christians, to pattern our life after the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus. Our suffering needs to be associated with the ultimate suffering of Jesus on the Cross.

Dear Family!

There are at least seven occasions in the New Testament we see Aramaic words are used to stress the power of Jesus words. My favorite of them all is the Aramaic word ‘Abba’ (Mark 14:36). We also find others like ‘Talitha kum’ (Mark 5:41), ‘Raca’ (Matthew 5:22), ‘Rabbouni’ (John 20:16), ‘Eli Eli lema sabachthani’ (Matthew 27:46) and ‘Hosanna’ (Mark 11:9). The gospel today uses ‘Ephphatha’ Be opened! (Mark 7:34).

Dear Family!

The readings this Sunday help us to reflect on objectives of our Christian Faith. Too often the ‘externals’ constitute who we are as Catholics. Our ritual practices, our decorations, our insistence and compulsions on rules, rules, and more rules may very well enslave us to the basic level of life as Christians.