Love is a word and term that can be difficult to understand. We can love our family, love our country and love ice cream as well. There are certainly different degrees of love and devotion! Jesus encourages his followers to love God, to love ourselves and to love our neighbors. Perhaps, the central idea of that invitation is the idea of healthy “self-love”. Love of God and neighbor is the hallmark of the Christian way of living, but if we don’t first love ourselves in a he

Jesus inspired faith in his disciples. They lived by the message that he preached and they have passed on that way of life to us. Jesus put His words into action, even by dying for our sins and rising to new life. We can inspire faith in others by also being self-sacrificial and living for the sake of others around us in true charity. One of the responsibilities I have in the diocese is to be the Director of our Ecumenical Office. This Sunday is Reformation Sunday. We call t

This is Mission Sunday weekend. We remember how we are all called to be “missionary disciples” in our time. Our support of the missions shows our dedication to Christ and His call to “teach all the nations”. My thanks to everyone for your generosity this weekend to this important appeal. As we continue to “courageously live the Gospel”, we do so by supporting the work of all missionaries in the world. Congratulations also this weekend to the new permanent deacons of our dioce

As we think about how we want to welcome people to our parish, we know that sometimes this can be more difficult than we might think. Those of us who have been part of the parish for a long time feel right at home, and sometimes, newcomers can be a kind of challenge. But we are encouraged to remember that “All are welcome” in our faith community. This Saturday, we sponsored a Newcomer’s Breakfast. It is part of our attempt to reach out to others in “courageously living the Go

The month of October is designated annually as “Respect Life Month”. We, as followers of Jesus Christ, attest to the belief that all human life is sacred and should be respected from our natural beginning to natural end. We know how difficult a position this can be in our society today. We can often see a disrespect for human life in many ways. People need always to be treated with dignity and respect, whatever their situation might be. We want to recognize so many people in