Sunday, February 4, 2024 8:00am and 10:00am Sunday, February 11, 2024 8:00am and 10:00am … [Read more...]

As most of you who attend the 10:30am Mass know, we recently have begun allowing parishioners to receive Holy Communion on the tongue while kneeling at the altar rail. This was the “normal” manner of receiving Holy Communion prior to the Second Vatican Council, and many of you appreciate the reverence that it brings. Just to be clear, no one is “required” to receive the Holy Eucharist in this manner. If you would like to receive the Blessed Sacrament in the hand while standing, that option is offered by the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion in the side aisles. … [Read more...]

Saturday, February 3 is the Feast of St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr.  St Blaise was the bishop of Sebaste in Armenia who was martyred in the year 316 AD. The oldest accounts tell us that Blaise was a physician at Sebaste before he was made bishop.  In the 4th century persecution of Licinius, St. Blaise was taken prisoner. After suffering various forms of torture he was beheaded. The most popular story attributed to St. Blaise occurred while he was in prison, when he cured a young a boy who was in danger of choking to death because of a fishbone in his throat.  That story, and the fact that St. Blaise was a doctor, made the saint very popular for intercessory prayer for throat ailments. At an early date, the veneration of this Eastern saint was brought into Europe, and Blaise became … [Read more...]

Each year the blessed palms from Palm Sunday are burned to make the ashes for Ash Wednesday.  We will burn them next weekend.  Since the palms are blessed, burning is the suitable way to dispose of them.  Please remember to bring them to Mass next weekend and place them in the brass urns in the back of the church.  Thank you! … [Read more...]

This year your generosity to the Society of St Vincent du Paul meant that 43 families got food baskets for a Christmas meal. Out of those families, 25 got gifts as well with 71 children receiving their gift requests from our tree, a total of 241 gifts! With you our monetary donations we were able to provide $75 gift cards to each of the 48 families so they can purchase turkey, ham, rolls, etc. … [Read more...]

January 1, 2024 Some fundamentalist Christians become offended when Catholics refer to the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Mother of God.   But it’s not a complicated teaching.  If (a) Mary is the mother of Jesus, and (b) if Jesus is God, then, therefore, (c) Mary is the Mother of God.  There is no escaping the logic here. However, saying Mary is the Mother of God, does not mean that she is older than God or the source of her Son’s divinity.  Rather, Mary is the Mother of God in the sense that she carried in her womb the divine person of Jesus Christ, and that her body provided the genetic material for His body. Although most Christians understand Jesus Christ as both fully God and fully human, the term Mother of God must be understood through its origins. Orthodox Christians and … [Read more...]

Christmas Eve, Sunday, December 24 4 PM Vigil Mass (Confessions prior) 12 AM Midnight Mass Christmas Day, Monday, December 25 10:30 AM Mass (NOTE: NO 8 AM Mass) and NO 6 PM Mass (All Masses at Basilica of St. Stephen) Mary, Mother of God, Monday, January 1* 8 AM Mass at St. Henry Church *Mary, Mother of God is not a Holy Day of Obligation this year because it falls on a Monday … [Read more...]

Holy Day of Obligation Friday, December 8, 2023 6:00 pm Vigil Thursday and 9:00 am Friday at the Basilica of St. Stephen 6:30 am Friday at St. Henry Church An interesting icon representing Jesus on the lap of the Virgin Mary who is herself on the lap of St. Anne, the mother of Mary. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:  The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin (Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, 1854: DS 2803). This doctrine was revealed through the Scriptures (Mary was “the absolute fullness of grace”) and the long Sacred Tradition of … [Read more...]

November 26, 2023 On this Solemnity, “kingship” takes on another dimension, the leader takes on the trials and tribulations for those that follow. In that leadership, all who follow are transformed into His children finding redemption in the forgiveness of our sins. Christ exemplifies this while hanging on the cross, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Are we willing to lead those within our family with such fidelity and trust in God?. … [Read more...]

The St. Vincent de Paul Society would like to thank you for your generous support.  With your assistance we were able to make 45 food baskets, each with a $75 dollar gift certificate to Rouses for entrée (no cigarettes or alcohol allowed to be purchased) for our neighbors in need.  Thanks to God for your generosity. … [Read more...]