Christ: Our Hope

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 5, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Ex 16:2-4, 12-15 / Ps 78 / Eph 4:17, 20-24 / Jn 6:24-35
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

When I went home to the Philippines for my yearly visit, I was pleased to learn that there are now two priests in our town’s parish church. This meant that my help would not be needed as it usually was during my vacation, and I could just attend Mass and spend more time with my Mom. But then, Fr. Romy, the Parochial Vicar, told me that the Pastor was away, so they still need me. And so I did help out. (more…)

You Have a Great Capacity to Love

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 29, 2018 – Year B
Readings: 2 Kgs 4:42-44 / Ps 145 / Eph 4:1-6 / Jn 6:1-15
by Rev. Paul O’Donnell Duggan, Guest Celebrant

It’s hard to believe that it was almost sixty years ago. I was working in London then, and, in the premiere of probably one of the most famous musicals ever, appeared a very young Julie Andrews and a very young Christopher Plummer. The musical was Sound of Music.

I guess if you ask twenty people, you might get twenty different favorite songs. I love all the songs. In this beautiful time of year, hopefully a restful, peaceful time for most, it’s a time I look to nature. Coming up on Friday on Route 220N, coming up through the mountains, the forests, I wish I could have stopped the car and just absorbed the beauty of God’s creation. My favorite song is Climb Every Mountain. Usually the Mother Superior sings that song, and I’ve never heard it sung badly. (more…)

Go, You Are Sent

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 22, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Jer 23:1-6 / Ps 23 / Eph 2:13-18 / Mk 6:30-34
by Rev. Dan Kelly, Guest Celebrant

In today’s first reading, Jeremiah the prophet is addressing two groups of people. First, he’s addressing the leaders of Israel, who have abandoned their people and sought their own way, avoiding God’s commandments. The people, as a result, were also forgetting what God’s commandments were. Jeremiah is also addressing the people themselves, who have been led to follow foreign and non-believing peoples from other nations.

We’ve heard that story before in the scriptures, especially in the Old Testament, when God promised and sent someone to renew His people. God promised, through Jeremiah, that He would raise up new leaders for the Jewish people, who would bring them back to their faith. That is the first connection with the gospel: leadership. (more…)

Lessons in Discipleship

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 15, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Am 7:12-15 / Ps 85 / Eph 1:3-14 / Mk 6:7-13
by Rev. Dan Kelly, Guest Celebrant

About seven hundred years before the coming of Our Lord, the kingdom of Israel was divided into two nations: Israel to the north and Judah to the south. Amos was ordered by God to go to Israel, to prophesy there, to tell the people how to change. What was going wrong in Israel was that Israel had won a great battle against its enemies. They were quite content, feeling pretty good. The economy was really going up; they had many extra workers coming in from other places to work. So things were looking pretty good, and they were beginning to relax their own personal moral life. They were even forgetting God, just going through the motions, as it were. (more…)

Pride and Humility

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 8, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Ez 2:2-5 / Ps 123 / 2 Cor 12:7-10 / Mk 6:1-6
by Rev. Mr. Eddie Craig, Permanent Deacon

Today’s gospel is one that, at first glance, seems a little odd. Think about Jesus – He is the Son of God. He is the second person of the Holy Trinity, and he couldn’t do any mighty deeds. Really? That seems weird. But the more I think about it, the more that I think it is exactly right if you look at that gospel a little more closely. It has to do with who we are, and who God is. (more…)

Shedding Light

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…)

Planting the Seed

Eleventh 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…)

What Is Unseen Is Eternal

Tenth 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…)

Powerful Words

The 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…)

The Sign of the Cross

The 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…)