Pastor’s Column 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time All Saints Day, 2020 “The greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” from Matthew 23:1-12 Many in this world place great value in things that, in the end, are of little importance. The readings for All Saints Day can help open our eyes to what Christ expects of us as his followers. The false gods of the worldly, an inordinate desire for wealth, fame

Pastor's Column 30th Sunday Ordinary Time October 25, 2020 "If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset, for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body. What else has he to sleep in? If he cries out to me, I will hear him, for I am compassionate." from Exodus 22:20-26 Saint Martin of Tours was a military man in the Roman army who was traveling on his horse in the province of Gaul (modern day France) when he came acro

Pastor’s Column 29th Sunday Ordinary Time October 18, 2020 “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God” from Matthew 15:21 At the height of the financial crisis of 2008, Pope Benedict gave this brief talk to help us see the “divine perspective” on the terrible situation many found themselves in. It is one of my very favorite and insightful reflections of his. It seems very relevant to run it again in the light of our challenging times and this Sunda

Pastor’s Column 28th Sunday Ordinary Time October 11, 2020 The King said, “Behold, I have prepared my banquet…everything is ready; come to the feast!” Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. (Matthew 22:1-14) This Sunday’s parable about a king who threw a big wedding party is very puzzling. Why in the world would so many people ignore his wedding invitations? You might think they would be honored to be invited by the king. At the v

Pastor’s Column 27th Sunday Ordinary Time October 4, 2020 In this Sunday’s gospel (Matthew 21:33-43), Jesus offers the parable of a man who takes great care to set up his own business—a vineyard. He made a sizeable investment in time and money, planting a hedge, installing an expensive winepress, and cultivating grapes (this takes time!). After all these extensive preparations, he went out and found tenants to buy a lease and run the business for him. Well, we all know how th