Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

01-28-2024From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

In the last three Sundays the Church reflected on the baptism, Mission Statement of Jesus, Jesus as the Word (Word of God Sunday), and we see today how Jesus puts those elements in His ministry as ‘The Prophet like Moses’ (1st reading). His announcement of the Kingdom of God was accompanied by God’s love to each and every one of us.

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3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

01-21-2024From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

The Universal Church celebrates, as the Church teaches, “The Sunday of the Word of God, instituted by Pope Francis and to be held every year on the third Sunday of Ordinary Time, 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: “As Christians, we are one people, making our pilgrim way through history, sustained by the Lord, present in our midst, who speaks to us and nourishes us.” (Dec 17, 2020, Congregation for Divine Worship & the Discipline of the Sacraments).

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Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

01-14-2024From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

We just concluded the Season of Christmas. What did we experience as a praying community? “When we assemble for liturgy in the Season of Christmas, then, we are a church haunted by a child with many faces. Each of us brings to the assembly the image of the child within, whether that child be possibility or prison. Each of our local communities brings the images through by our devotional arts, whether those images be of past childishness or future maturity.” (Jennifer Glenn) Thus the sentiments of Christmas expressed in our liturgies proclaim the spirituality of all the Baptized.

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The Epiphany of the Lord

01-07-2024From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

It was wonderful to start the year with the celebration of the feast of the Motherhood of Our Lady. May the blessings of our Lady be upon us throughout the year. As part of the Christmas Season, we celebrate the feast of Epiphany today. The word ‘Epiphany ’ means ‘to appear or shine’. Epiphany refers to the divinity of Jesus ‘shining upon ’the earth. Epiphany refers the manifestation of the Divine Nature of Jesus.

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The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph

12-31-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

I continue to wish you Merry Christmas! Thank you for making the most of all the opportunities that were provided for you in as many Masses and community time created for you! There were so many people that I am grateful to those for making this year’s Christmas: Starting with our priests and deacons. Our Director for Music Lisa Sforza and the whole choir for their time put into preparing and helping us to have a great worshipping experience. We are grateful to the Decoration Committee headed by Diane and Duane Volk and all the volunteers in donating long hours in making our already beautiful church more beautiful. We thank all the liturgical ministers (Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors and Ushers) and all the altar servers for their role in making this year’s Christmas memorable.

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Fourth Sunday of Advent

12-24-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

Reflection: Christmas for Christians is a day of gratitude. Gratitude leads us to prayer, where our hearts are filled with wonder and praise. Christmas leads us to the sense of wonder. God presents himself as tiny, fragile, vulnerable, and dependent. Compared to the strong, muscular, powerful, parenting and patronizing people we are in front of God.

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Third Sunday of Advent

12-17-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

Reflection: We are celebrating ‘Gaudete Sunday’ (Laetare Sunday in Lent) as the Universal Church rejoices in the Lord because ‘the Lord is near’ echoing the Opening Prayer, “we who look forward to the birthday of Christ, experience the joy of salvation and celebrate that feast with love and thanksgiving.”

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Second Sunday of Advent

12-10-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

Reflection: Pope Francis encouraged the world with his advent message in the following words: “Dear friends, it will be good for us today to ask ourselves how we can prepare a welcoming heart for the Lord. We can do so by approaching His forgiveness, His Word, His Table, finding space for prayer, welcoming those in need. Let us cultivate His expectation without letting ourselves be distracted by so many pointless things, and without complaining all the time, but keeping our hearts alert, that is, eager for Him, awake and ready, impatient to meet Him.” (12-3-2023)

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First Sunday in Advent

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

Dear Family!

Reflection: There is no better ‘Good News’ than the advent of Our Lord Jesus Christ! Happy Advent to all of you! The greatest treasure of Advent is Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Vestments and decorations are expressed in purple for the season as the theme point to ‘Staying awake’. The way to stay awake is through penance, preparation and sacrifice. Also, it is important to distance ourselves from flashy decorations and nostalgic carols that can take us away from this ‘preparation’ - to focus our minds and hearts on getting our hearts ready for the ‘Child Jesus’.

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Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

11-26-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

Reflection: This weekend the Universal Church celebrates the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. This marks the end of our Liturgical Year, and we welcome a New Liturgical year with the 1st Sunday of Advent. As Pope Benedict beautifully teaches us that Christ’s Kingship is not based on ‘human power’ but on loving and serving others. It reminds me of the wise saying of Carl Jung, “Where love rules, there is no will; and where power predominates, there love is lacking.”

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Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

11-19-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

Reflection: As we are getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, let us be mindful of all God’s blessings for us. God has blessed our land with countless blessings: clean water, abundant food, opportunity, education, employment and the additional thousands of blessings which not many other countries are blessed with. Our blessings can be compared to the ‘Talents’ that the employer entrusts with his servants. We are blessed to receive the ‘Most’. As a country that has been blessed and entrusted with the responsibility, how we respond to that ‘vocation’ matters today and now.

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Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

11-12-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

Reflection: This Sunday’s Gospel passage (Mt 25:1- 13) invites us to prolong the reflection on eternal life that we began on the occasion of the Feast of All Saints and the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed. Jesus recounts the parable of the ten virgins invited to a wedding feast, symbol of the Kingdom of Heaven. Christ is the Bridegroom, and we are like the virgins awaiting his return to begin the wedding feast of heaven.

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Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

11-05-2023From Fr. Antony's DeskFr. Antony Arockiadoss

Dear Family!

Reflection: We have just celebrated the Solemnity of All Saints and the Commemoration of All Souls day. I want to thank you for taking part in these beautiful liturgies especially praying for the dead and praying with the families who have lost their loved ones. The Bible teaches us that it is actually a holy thing to pray for the dead. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “it is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for that is the end of every mortal, and the living should take it to heart.”

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