Dear Friends in Christ, Saint Helena, who was born around 248 and died around 330, was the mother of Constantine the Great, the first Christian Emperor of Rome, and the end of the persecutions that followed Constantine’s conversion made it possible for Christians to worship publicly and without fear throughout the Empire. This new freedom…

Dear Friends in Christ, Next weekend at all Masses we will take up a second collection to assist those afflicted by Hurricane Harvey. Please be generous so that the Church can assist those in need, especially those who had very little even before the devastation of this storm. This Wednesday, 6 September, is the beginning…

Dear Friends in Christ, Common + Unity = Community. The things we have in common, do in common, and love in common both help produce human unity and flow from it. We all naturally desire an experience of community with other people, and when the things which we hold in common are noble and uplifting,…

Dear Friends in Christ, The new school year is at hand, and beginning just after Labor Day, there are many opportunities at St Mary’s to be diligent students of the Lord Jesus: An Introduction to Catholicism is the course which includes the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, and anyone who wants to learn more…

Dear Friends in Christ, Numinous. This is not a word one hears in casual conversation, but it is an English word that entered our language in the 17th century from the Latin word numen which means divine presence. Numinous is an adjective that includes a field of meanings, including concepts like spiritual, holy, religious, transcendent,…