Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Catholics throughout Latin America and the Caribbean are challenged daily when it comes to nurturing and sharing their faith. Violence, gang activity, and isolation are some of the obstacles which have to be overcome in order for the ministries of the Gospel to succeed in sharing the faith. In the Diocese of […]
Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph My dear parishioners, Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth consisted of Joseph, Mary and Jesus. The last Sunday of the year is set aside to remember the Holy Family so that we may model our families after the example of the family of Nazareth. One could raise a […]
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” My dear parishioners, As we get closer to Christmas, the events that immediately precede His birth are given to us in the gospel reading. Again, this gospel passage is the fulfillment of the prophecy […]
St. Bernardine Church has decided to keep the Shopping Certificate Order Form as a parish fundraising venue. This was formerly a school fundraising venture, and a great way to fundraise as there is no cost to the church or the consumer. It works this way: Companies such as Jewel, WalMart, Meijer, Tony’s Finer Foods, Ultra Foods, […]
My dear parishioners, Today we begin a new liturgical year with the First Sunday of Advent. Our catholic liturgy follows a three year cycle and we call it Year A, Year B and Year C. We just finished Year A and this weekend we go into Year C. Sunday gospel readings for this year are […]
My dear parishioners, Today’s reading from the gospel of Luke has the only mention of the Sadducees in this gospel. They were the wealthy aristocracy. In religious matters they accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament, rejected the oral tradition of the Pharisees and did not believe in the angels or the […]
My dear parishioners, Today’s Gospel (Luke 19:1-10) begins with a reminder of Jesus’ continuing journey to Jerusalem: “Jesus came to Jericho” (19:1). There Zacchaeus, a “chief tax col- lector and also a wealthy man” (19:2) was willing to climb a sycamore tree to see Jesus. Neither his position as an official nor his riches kept […]
My dear parishioners, Last week I met with the Women’s Club in their general body for the first meeting of the year. As you know Women’s Club has been an integral part of our parish for a long, long time. They have done immense work in the parish and school. We should acknowledge it and […]
My dear parishioners, Today’s scripture readings (2 Kings 5: 14-17 & Luke 17: 11-19) highlight the sufferings and hardships of lepers, but also the cure of two of them, Naaman the Syrian and the unnamed Samaritan. Both men are non-Jews, a lesson to the reader that God’s favor is not only for Jews but His […]
My dear parishioners, The scripture readings of today are an eye opener to the power of prayer if done with a humble heart. The first reading from the Book of Sirach sets the stage for the parable of Jesus to fol- low. “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds” (Sirach 35:17). The gospel is […]