Parish Blog

Dear Parishioners, If we wish to follow Christ and find salvation we must learn to carry our cross. This is what Jesus spoke to his disciples about today in the Gospel. What is our own experience of suffering like? What thoughts come to mind when we say the word “cross”?

Christianity is about love, but charity and the cross are inseparable. The language of love is the cross. The cross is always a blessing. The cross transforms us and enriches us. It makes our life more human and profound because it teaches us to love and understand our neighbors.

Dear Parishioners,

Discipleship begins when Christ encounters you and calls you to metanoia—a profound change of mind and heart—so that your life becomes closely following Christ and staying in communion. In the Gospels, to follow is not merely “going with,” but “walking behind” the One who leads. The way is narrow: you must deny yourself, take up your cross, and accept love’s sacrifices. We must expect hardship; our faith will be tested, and Christ may ask, “Do you also want to leave?” (John 6:67)

Dear Parishioners,

Many of you remember the parish mission that Father Ricardo Pineda did for our parish about five years ago. He had a tremendous and long-lasting impact on our parish.

We are most blessed that Father Ricardo is returning to our parish for another mission. Father Pineda’s Adoration and Mission conference will be held from Sunday through Thursday, August 23-27 at Historic St. Mary’s. There will be confessions and adoration each day as well.

Dear Parish Family,

As we begin a new school year, I want to thank all those who support St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic School. Whether you have children enrolled or simply offer your prayers and encouragement, you are an important part of this ministry. Catholic education is a mission of our entire parish as we work together to form young people who know, love, and serve Jesus Christ.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In our Second Reading for today, St. Paul writes with startling confidence: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?” He then lists hardships that can feel overwhelming—“tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword.” And yet the Apostle does not end in despair. He adds, “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us,” and he finishes with an even greater assurance: “neither death nor life… nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35, 37-39)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In today’s Gospel, Jesus touches our most human concerns through three comparisons: the treasure, the pearl, and the net, as if to tell us that it would be the height of folly not to choose the best when it is within our reach. What is most valuable is the happiness we will have in heaven forever!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Jesus teaches that God’s kingdom resembles a farmer who plants good seed, only to have an enemy sow weeds among the wheat. When the servants ask to pull up the weeds, the farmer refuses, fearing they’ll uproot the wheat as well, and instead commands that both grow together until harvest, when the weeds will be burned and the wheat gathered into the barn. (Matt 13: 24-43)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Last week, I presented a brief teaching on the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity— because they “inform all the moral virtues and give life to them.” (CCC,1841)

The Church teaches that these virtues are not merely human motivation. They are “infused by God into the souls of the faithful,” so that we can act as God’s children and “merit eternal life.” (CCC,1813)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In the life of faith, there are gifts that do not simply help us “manage” the spiritual journey—they guide it. St. Paul teaches that faith, hope, and love abide, and that “the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor 13:13). Pope St. John Paul II describes these virtues “like three stars” that rise in the sky of our spiritual life to lead us to God, forming a “triptych” whose apex is love (agape). (Pope St. John Paul II’s General Audience, Nov 22, 2000)