Dear Friends, Holy Week (March 29 – April 5, 2026) is the holiest time of the year. More than a remembrance of past events, it is a living encounter with Jesus Christ, who invites each of us into deeper intimacy with Him. In these sacred days, we walk with Him, from the Upper Room, to Calvary, to the silence of the tomb, and ultimately to the joy of the Resurrection. I warmly encourage you to take advantage of Reconciliation Monday (March 30, 2026), a beautiful opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In this sacrament, Christ Himself meets us with

One of the many beautiful features of Saint Aloysius church is the larger-than-life crucifix that hangs in our sanctuary. So many have remarked about how much that wonderfully imposing cross means to them: how it helps them pray, how it gives them peace, how it reminds them of God’s love made manifest in the suffering and dying of His Son. In my own reflection on the Cross of Christ, I have always been struck by a verse from the Liturgy of the Hours: “See how the Cross of Christ becomes the tree of life.” It makes sense: the suffering and

When Jesus heals, he not only restores sight, cures leprosy, or raises up the suffering from their sickbeds. He does something truly life-giving: he brings the healed ones back into the community. In this Sunday’s Gospel, blind Bartimeus and his family are ostracized from society because it is thought that some sin caused the blindness. Jesus spends a great amount of time explaining to the crowd that sin didn’t cause the blindness, and that God’s desire is that Bartimeus and his family have their dignity and rightful place in the community restored. We are made for relationship, and when we

I am amazed at the plethora of options for drinking water available these days, and I will confess that I have been trying out different brands in an attempt to find the one that will truly satisfy my taste and achieve a healthy hydration. I’ve ventured into the world of flavored, fruit-infused, ultra-filtered, straight-from-the-mountain-spring, sparkling, lightly-sweetened, distilled, purified, alkaline, and more. I’ve tried to balance my desire for flavor with the plain necessity of plain old H20 in order to live. To contextualize this in the current season of Lent, I can fast from food, but I must have water

Jesus took Peter, James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. Matthew 17:1-2. This Sunday’s Gospel brings us to the mountain where Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John. For centuries, saints, scholars, bishops and bloggers have considered the meaning of this moment that is a preamble to Jesus’s suffering, dying, and rising. I’ve assembled below the thoughts of three Church leaders who have pondered this mountaintop event: Pope Leo XIV, Pope Francis, and

Ready or not, Lent begins this week. Our foreheads are smudged with ashes as a reminder that we should spend the 40 days working on a conversion of heart. When we make our decisions about what we may “give up” for Lent, the decision should be informed by our desire to align ourselves more closely to Christ who gave up his life for us. In his sacrifice on the Cross, it hurt Jesus to love us so much. We are not called to that same kind of sacrifice, but we are called to love. In our praying, fasting, and almsgiving,

This Sunday we are called to be “salt and light.” For centuries salt has been a staple for preserving, flavoring, and it even had its role in liturgical ritual. As we live out our discipleship, we need “salt” – the encouragement, support, and prayer that enable us to follow Jesus and bring light to others. As a parish family, we can be salt and light for one another and build up our community of faith. The ripple effect beyond the parish is real! February 18 is Ash Wednesday, and we will begin our Lenten journey. Next week our “Ashes to

The Gospel this Sunday is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The “Beatitudes” are a reminder that we can count on God to provide for us as we live out our discipleship. In our mourning, humility, working for justice, and peacemaking we are “blessed” because we are proclaiming the Kingdom of God. We are comforted, shown mercy, and will see God. The Beatitudes challenge us to Gospel living and demonstrate that doing the will of God (which may involve suffering and sacrifice) is a life-giving joy that leads to the Kingdom of Heaven. We had a snowy Sunday last

This Sunday’s psalm refrain (“Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will”) challenges us to think and pray about how we live out our own discipleship. A new year brings an opportunity to make resolutions for better living. But before we make any big plans, we should pray that God’s plans for us are honored by our intentional listening, our docility, and our gracious reception of God’s love. Prayer that leads us to silence allows God to do the talking and gives us a chance to know what to speak. Trusting that God knows better than we do

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord signals the end of the Christmas season. This feast, along with the Epiphany and the Nativity celebrate the moments when Christ was made manifest to the world. From simple birth in Bethlehem to the visit of the magi to the baptism scene where God acknowledges his beloved Son, we are repeatedly assured that Christ is in our midst. God-made-man, Jesus is like us in all things but sin; therefore, He knows what it’s like to be you and me and He invites us to be more like Him. As we put away

On Friday, December 12 my 98-year-old godmother, Sally, passed away. A cousin on my mom’s side of the family, “Aunt Sally” held me on my baptism day, celebrated with me on my First Communion and Confirmation days, and prayed at my ordination where I was able to give her a “first blessing.” I brought her Communion when she was homebound, anointed her when she was sick, and gave her the last rites of the Church the day before she died. She was faithful, kind, and strong. As I thought about those sacramental moments with Aunt Sally, my mind went back

As we head into the third week of Advent, I am feeling great joy (appropriate as the Third Sunday is Gaudete [“rejoice”] Sunday). Last weekend was a marathon of joyful events in the life of our parish. I want to share some highlights so you can know how we celebrate God at work in the Saint Aloysius family of faith. Our teens and chaperones headed down to Kentucky with Chris Otis, our youth minister and Father Flavian for our annual “Project 1,000.” Your generosity filled stockings, helped with transportation costs, and made it possible for 1,000 children in one of

In all the years I spent working in education, the question from students that always made me smile (and suffer a bit of frustration at the same time) was: “Is this going to be on the final exam?” OK, I was guilty of the same query myself. In the different settings and stages of life we often ask the question, “what’s required here?” Whether it’s a job, a medical situation, or even a relationship, we want to know what we’re supposed to do and sometimes we are really asking: “what’s the minimum requirement?” John the Baptist deals with this when

“Hallow” (hallow.com) is a popular Catholic online site that offers practical ways to pray and stay focused on our relationship with Christ in the midst of our busy lives. As we make room in our hearts for Christ who comes at Christmas, I found Hallow’s short Advent prayers to be very helpful. I’m sharing them with you because I believe that they may provide a way to keep us centered and hopeful in these days when the world is so restless. Dear Lord, please allow me to embrace Advent in the way the Church intends: as a way to prepare

This weekend I offer a few words about Thanksgiving, the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, and the relationship of the two events to the Eucharist. The nation’s observance of Thanksgiving provides an opportunity to reflect on the blessings God has given us. As the newcomers to America gave thanks for the new-found religious freedom, we pause from our labors to express our gratitude for what we have received from God. The word “Eucharist” has its roots in Greek and it means “thanksgiving.” It is the meal where we are drawn into the Paschal Mystery – the suffering,

As we get closer to the end of the liturgical year, our Sunday readings turn to the end times. The scenes are rife with natural disasters and pervasive turmoil; but the faithful need not fear according to Jesus in the Gospel of Luke (21:19): You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives. Our life together as a parish family is characterized by Gospel living, and as we get to the end of the liturgical and calendar years, I want to

Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his Body. ~ John 2:19-21 This Sunday we celebrate a building – The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist in the Lateran, also called Saint John Lateran, or the Lateran Basilica for short. Although the pope now lives next to Saint Peter’s Basilica, Saint John Lateran is

Jesus said to the crowds: ‘Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life,

This Sunday’s Gospel is the parable of the prayer of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisees were known to be very devout worshippers of God who were often found at prayer in the temple. Therefore, it would make sense to assume that in the story it will be the Pharisee who will pray “better.” But the outcome is a bit of surprise because the tax collector, who, by virtue of his profession, was scorned by society, is the one whose prayer is genuine and humble. The issue here is each man’s relationship with God. The Pharisee begins his

Each year we invite some of our teens to become Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. As part of that invitation and training we ask these young disciples to tell us why the Eucharist is special to them and how serving as an Extraordinary Minister means for their faith life. I’ve presented below some of our teens’ reflections. If you want to experience hopefulness and learn about the power of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharistic, keep reading! I feel the Eucharist is special to me because of its unique position in the church as a physical