Dear Friends in Christ, Lent begins this week with Ash Wednesday, and each one of us is called by the Lord Jesus to a deeper conversion as we prepare to celebrate the Passover of the Lord at Easter. During these 40 Days of fasting, prayer, and works of mercy, let us strive to live in…

Dear Friends in Christ, This Tuesday is the Feast of Saint Scholastica, the twin sister of Saint Benedict, father of Western monasticism. These two saints were born in the Italian mountain town of Nursia (Norcia in Italian) around the year 480, and Scholastica died on 10 February 547. To put their lives in the context…

Dear Friends in Christ, Christmas was 40 days ago tomorrow, and that is why tomorrow is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. According to Jewish custom, described in Chapter 12 of Leviticus, every woman who gave birth required a ritual purification from her flow of blood, and a sacrifice was to be offered…

Dear Friends in Christ, Although it is not observed liturgically because this year it falls on a Sunday, 25 January is the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, the Church’s annual celebration of the day when Saul of Tarsus met the Lord Jesus on the Damascus Road — an event that changed Saul’s life…

Dear Friends in Christ, Several items for your consideration: 1. Our stewardship guidelines ask every household at St. Mary’s to divide your biblical tithe in this way: 5% directly to the parish in the primary offertory, 1% directly to our Bishop in the Annual Appeal, and 4% to other charities of your choice. And I…

Dear Friends in Christ, The vast majority of Christians, including almost all Catholics, are baptized when they are infants, and this is most fitting. The sacraments are instruments of God’s grace, and even newborn babies need the grace of God. Moreover, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it, “The sheer gratuitousness of the…