The Our Father, given to us by Jesus himself, is a profound reminder as to how we are to understand our relationship with God. We are called to be perfect like our Heavenly Father is perfect. MT 5:48 Jesus when asked by the apostles to teach us how to pray, is a response enveloped principally in the love of God. Remember God is love, God is all about relationship and an encounter that by its very dynamic changes us to desire and to seek God at all times. This prayerful relationship also challenges us to become mature in the spiritual life, which many a churchgoer struggles with because of ego, or conjured up ideas of what is perceived as holy but is not.

The story of Martha and Mary is a story ripened with time, that moves us to contemplate the depths and dimensions of our relationship with God.

Jesus in his public ministry is all about connection and choosing the better part of things. We find ourselves also caught in the balance of being aware of our choices and what consumes us. What draws us closer to God and what are the things that take us from God. People often spend time doing a lot of stuff being busy for the sake of busy.

You must love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

These are the words to everlasting life. Jesus amazingly makes it clear when asked what is necessary, what is the basic requirement to get to heaven. Jesus never said one must be pious but said one must be perfect like the Heavenly Father is perfect. Jesus never said one must put on external practices of perceived holiness in order to look holy, instead he said take care to not be concerned with the outside of the cup, but clean first what is within (Mt 23).

Today we honor St. Peter and St. Paul.

Both are apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, but both came up in very different ways. St. Peter was a fisherman, most likely tough as nails, stubborn, profane, a gripe, and struggled with faith. St. Paul was a persecutor of Christians, proudly assailing them and dragging them off to prison. Both were Jewish, but St. Paul was a Hellenistic Jew raised in Greek culture. St. Peter personally knew Jesus, sat with Him at table, walked with Him and talked with Him. St. Peter demonstrated some of the most disappointing sides of human nature with his struggles with faith, trusting in Jesus, spirit of anger, complaining, and if that was not enough, he denied Jesus.

Today marks the second of two Catechetical Sundays that occur on the tails of the Easter Season. Corpus Christi Sunday brings into focus the awe of the Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ, or Holy Communion. Trinity Sunday last week, solidified the awe of the presence of God among His people through the Most Holy Trinity, as three distinct persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Corpus Christi Sunday brings to focus our love of the Lord present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. It’s interesting to note that the Church places these catechetical days within the calendar because it’s important to see the Holy Mass as an opportunity to unpack the rich meaning of our faith as it pertains to some of our most profound mysteries and treasures.

Coming off the heels of the Easter Season that culminated with Pentecost Sunday, the Church now gives us the first of two consecutive catechetical Sundays to instill in us a deeper love of our faith and the teachings of the Church. The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity speaks to us at the heart of God, in knowing Him at His foundation given in the Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Throughout the centuries great debates have taken place over God as Three Persons, and the reality that the Sacred Trinity is a mystery and has been a mystery since the Church began to articulate it.

Pentecost Sunday is the culmination of the Easter Season, when our fifty-day observance comes to an end, yet we still live out our inner essence as Easter People. This aspect of the Christian faith is the core of what we believe, as we have cherished the hope, the joy, and the promise of eternal life.

Let us pray that as the Holy Spirit falls upon us this Pentecost, as we prepare our inner dwelling to be the place of welcome, to take on the inner disposition required for the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and make us holier, more faithful, and desiring of the converted life.

The fifty days of Easter are dedicated to the contemplation of the profound meaning of the Paschal Mystery, the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In these days we commemorate with vivid meaning the “pasche” derived from Greek and Hebrew the combined mystery of the Pache or Easter event in Jewish Passover and Christian Easter, which celebrates true freedom from the bonds of slavery, as the Jews were liberated and how Christians are freed from attachment to sin and death. It’s a victory celebration really of epic proportions that moves us toward the promise of eternal life.

Memorial Day began under the name “Decoration Day” in 1868 — three years after the Civil War ended — and was declared a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers and otherwise honor those who died while serving in the United States military, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It is one of 11 permanent federal holidays observed in the U.S.

The 10 other federal holidays observed annually are: New Year’s Day on January 1, Martin Luther King Jr. Day on the third Monday in January Washington’s Birthday, or Presidents Day, on the third Monday in February, Juneteenth on June 19, Independence Day, or the Fourth of July, on July 4, Labor Day on the first Monday in September, Indigenous Peoples Day, or Columbus Day, on the second Monday in October, Veterans Day on Nov. 11, Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday in November, Christmas on Dec. 25 Memorial Day is observed annually on the last Monday in May.

Dear Parish Family,

Joy is at the heart of the Command to Love One Another—They will know of our joy through our love.

The Resurrection accounts have been fast hitting as of late, as we move as a Church through the Easter Season, and readings that go along with it… Jesus has collectively sought to bring about more enlightenment and conversion amongst His disciples. Conversion is painful because it constantly moves us to better align ourselves with Christ. If we are not struggling, we are not growing.

Dear Parish Family,

Our journey continues toward Pentecost, as we move through these days of transformation and renewal. We are now at a crossroads, still celebrating these 50 Days of Easter. We must stop and ponder the Easter message that continues to burn within us, as our hearts have been set aflame stirred by the scriptures. We remain within this season of light, that brings our faith into focus and practice.

The Easter Season is an amazing time that calls to mind the accounts of Jesus appearing to His disciples in His resurrected state, and yet with each encounter, the disciples including Mary Magdalene are caught off guard at least for a moment and do not recognize Him. It is in the familiar that suddenly they realize it is their beloved Jesus the Lord.

Dear Parish Family,

These past few weeks have been blessed as we have celebrated Holy Week, the Sacred Triduum, Divine Mercy Sunday, and now we are already at the third week of Easter. We have made a good Easter practice with each of those events. We now mourn our Holy Father Pope Francis, and we have offered him two requiem Masses while we wait for the coming conclave beginning May 7.