Posts by Fr Jay Scott Newman

Dear Friends in Christ, Who should receive Holy Communion at Mass? Only Catholics who have made their first Confession and received their first Holy Communion may receive Communion at Mass. Communicants should be living according to the Gospel by the obedience of faith and going to Confession whenever needed, and if they are married, they…

Dear Friends in Christ, We often receive requests from people who want to get married at St. Mary’s or want to have their baby baptized here or who have been invited by a friend or relative to serve as a sponsor for a Baptism or Confirmation somewhere else. And very often these requests come from…

Dear Friends in Christ, In the service of helping everyone participate more deeply in divine worship … Upon entering the church, please a dip a finger into the holy water near the door, and then trace the sign of the Cross on your forehead, heart, and shoulders. This is a remembrance of Holy Baptism by…

Dear Friends in Christ, Our old fiscal year ended on 30 June 2017, and I want to give you an update on our financial health. For FY 2016-2017, we needed to raise an average of $33,150 in the primary offertory for an annual total of $1,723,800, and we actually raised a total of $1,760,073 which…

Dear Friends in Christ, Given the great cultural changes through which we are now living, some Catholics may be tempted to withdraw from the world the better to resist the challenges to Christian life that confront us all. But such a withdrawal is not the Catholic way. Consider, for comparison, the Amish, who are famous…

Dear Friends in Christ, If you are in the habit of leaving the church immediately after receiving Holy Communion at Mass, then I beg you to replace that habit with a new one: receive Holy Communion reverently and devoutly, and then return to your seat in the pew to give thanks to God for the…