540-586-8988
[email protected]
540-586-8988
[email protected]
Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
June 24, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Is 49:1-6 / Ps 139 / Acts 13:22-26 / Lk 1:57-66, 80
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor
Yesterday, as I was greeting the people who attended the Mass at our sister parish, Resurrection, a young man whom I was meeting for the first time there was trying to communicate with me through sign language. Apparently he was unable to speak. I tried to understand him, but I could not figure out what he was trying to say. From the look on his face, I would say he was as frustrated as I was. In desperation, he just shook my hand and waved to me on his way out, the only message I understood. (more…)
KEEP READINGEleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
June 17, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Ez 17:22-24 / Ps 92 / 2 Cor 5:6-10 / Mk 4:26-34
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor
Not too long ago, I visited a former parishioner in a rehabilitation center/nursing home in Virginia Beach. On my way to his room, his youngest son met me in the hallway to thank me personally for the spiritual support I’ve given his dad and for being a personal friend of the family. I’ve met the son a few times in the past and have often congratulated his parents for raising a very fine Catholic gentleman. This young man is not only a very successful architect in Boston, but he and his whole family are all very active in Church ministry. (more…)
KEEP READINGTenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
June 10, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Gn 3:9-15 / Ps 130 / 2 Cor 4:13-5:1 / Mt 3:20-35
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor
When we gather together here in Holy Name of Mary, we know that we are not in the company of strangers. We pray with the rest of our brothers and sisters who are also members of the mystical body of Christ, the Church, of which we are all a part.
In the gospel that we have just heard, Jesus, while looking at the people around Him, said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.” As we celebrate together this holy sacrifice of the Mass, the Lord is giving us an assurance of these same words, for we are all members of His family. (more…)
KEEP READINGThe Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
June 3, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Ex 24:3-8 / Ps 116 / Heb 9:11-15 / Mk 14:12-16, 22-26
by Rev. Mr. Eddie Craig, Permanent Deacon
You’ve heard Father and me talk about the Exodus 90 program that a group of us in our parish did. It’s a ninety-day program, and during that time you’re supposed to refrain from any kind of social media. You’re not supposed to use the Internet except for work or school.
Over that period I stopped using Facebook (except to keep tabs on the parish’s Facebook page) and YouTube. I would typically browse the Internet during lunch at work, so the first day, I thought, Okay, what do I do? And so I started reading. It was very spiritually beneficial and a great change. (more…)
KEEP READINGThe Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
May 27, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Dt 4:32-34, 39-40 / Ps 33 / Rom 8:14-17 / Mt 28:16-20
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor
Starting today, during our Sunday Masses here at Holy Name of Mary, we will miss another member of our Christian family who was born into life eternal last Monday. She absolutely loved this church. I am referring to Mama Champagne, whose funeral was celebrated here in our sanctuary.
I was told by her son, Dave, and her daughter-in-law, Debbie, that even when her memory was failing her, she knew when it was time to go to church. Later, when she could not even remember her favorite prayers, she would do what she was still able to do, make the sign of the cross. Not only once or twice, but a hundred times a day. (more…)
KEEP READINGPentecost Sunday
May 20, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Acts 2:1-11 / Ps 104 / 1 Cor 12:3B-7, 12-13 / Jn 20:19-23
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor
If you are not one of the millions who watched the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, at least you must have heard that there was a royal wedding that took place in Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom yesterday. The Most Reverend Michael Curry, who gave the sermon at the ceremony, quoted a Roman Catholic priest, the late Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, whom he considered one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century. (more…)
KEEP READINGThe Ascension of the Lord
May 13, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Acts 1:1-11 / Ps 47 / Eph 1:17-23 / Mk 16:15-20
by Rev. Mr. Eddie Craig, Permanent Deacon
Good morning, and Happy Easter, because it’s still Easter. Easter is just too big to be one day; it’s a whole season in the Church calendar. Today, as we approach the end of that season, we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, when He was taken up into heaven.
If you’ve been paying attention during all these weeks of Easter, you know that Jesus, after He was raised from the dead, was somehow different. (more…)
KEEP READINGSixth Sunday of Easter
May 6, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48 / Ps 98 / 1 Jn 4:7-10 / Jn 15:9-17
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor
Yesterday morning, ten of our young men and women here in Holy Name of Mary received the sacrament of Confirmation in a beautiful liturgy at St. Thomas More. Before they were confirmed, Bishop Knestout, during his homily, told them that the Lord Jesus will equip them with the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit as they continue to navigate a world that has been damaged by sin. (more…)
KEEP READINGFifth Sunday of Easter
April 29, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Acts 9:26-31 / Ps 22 / 1 Jn 3:18-24 / Jn 15:1-8
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor
The Lord Jesus was a master communicator. He could present something that is full of mystery in a way that even a little child in those times could understand.
In the gospel that we have just heard, when the Lord Jesus was telling His disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches,” they must have been walking in the vineyard and seeing the vines all around them, hanging heavy with ripe fruit.
Understanding these words of Our Lord is not rocket science. Plain common sense tells us that a branch can’t remain alive just by itself, let alone bear fruit. (more…)
KEEP READINGFourth Sunday of Easter
April 22, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Acts 4:8-12 / Ps 118 / 1 Jn 3:1-2 / Jn 10:11-18
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor
Not too long along, when I was celebrating Mass at one of my former parishes in the Tidewater area, a church with about eight thousand members, we all heard a child crying in the church’s nursery. It is a huge church, so there is a nursery during the Mass. Now almost immediately one of the mothers in the congregation got up to see her child. In less than a minute, the crying stopped. (more…)
KEEP READING