Hello Friends, It was suggested to me that instead of this week’s usual ‘Pastor’s Desk’ it would be timely to put in this prayer. I agreed. Now more than ever. Fr. Ron Pope Francis’ Prayer for Peace Lord God of peace, hear our prayer, We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own…

……from your Pastor’s Desk “Where have all the Flowers gone?” You’ve heard me say that Lent was not my favorite time of the year. I am, by nature, a jovial person. I love to laugh and smile, to joke and jest. So, as a lad in the 1950’s these did not go well with the Season as it was then observed. Through…

……from your Pastor’s Desk How to Love I don’t know if you have ever read Richard Carlson’s 1997 book, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff (and it’s all small stuff). It offers advice and examples as to how we can live a loving and a (more) peaceful life. One of my favorite chapters gives a way to use patience rather than being upset…

……from your Pastor’s Desk The Four Beatitudes and the Four Woes. Huh? Well, we are most familiar with the Eight Beatitudes that we hear in the Gospel of Matthew. But today we have Luke’s version.Why the difference? Read on. When spoken from the mountaintop in Matthew’s Gospel, we can’t miss the impression that Jesus is speaking with the authority and voice of…

……from your Pastor’s Desk To Raise the World The First Reading is about the call of Isaiah: “Whom shall I send?” The next two readings are about the apostles, those who were sent by Jesus to carry his message and carry on his work. Who are Jesus’ apostles in our world? Whom will God send today? When God wants to send a…

……from your Pastor’s Desk … A reflection on todays Scripture readings How many weddings have you attended in your life? And how many times have you heard, “Love is patient, love is kind . . . it is not rude”? It’s an all-time favorite. Yet, to make those wonderful words come true for the newlyweds, they need to take special note of…

……from your Pastor’s Desk Here is The Golden Rule as it is written in eight religions: Baha’i: Blessed are those who prefer others before themselves.Buddhism: Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.Christianity: In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.Islam: No one is a believer…

……from your Pastor’s Desk John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King Junior. To some of us reading this, these names bring back memories of personal experiences during the turbulent times of the sixties and seventies; the start of the Civil Rights Movement, the Catholic Worker Houses and the beginning of the changes that are still in process today to make this…

……from your Pastor’s Desk The Baptism of the Lord And a voice came from the heavens,“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Jesus has just been baptized by John. There’s a crowd. Many of them have also just been baptized. Jesus feels the enormity of the occasion. Then, suddenly, something happens to change everything. The heavens open and…

……from your Pastor’s Desk Three Magi, Three Gifts for the Child-King If I asked you to think of the three worst things you ever did in your life, even if you didn’t want to admit them, you could come up with them pretty quickly – certainly one of them – instantly. Now – If I asked you to think of the three…