Be the Good Samaritan

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 14, 2019 – Year C
Readings: Dt 30:10-14 / Ps 69 / Col 1:15-20 / Lk 10:25-37
by Father Paul O’Donnell Duggan, Guest Celebrant

Are you familiar with the name Serena Williams? She almost made history yesterday. She just missed out on getting her twenty-fourth Grand Slam title in London yesterday, which would have equaled a great idol of mine when I was growing up, Margaret Smith. She is the greatest holder of the title – she used to play Billie Jean King. If Serena had won yesterday, she would have equaled Margaret Smith’s record.

About two weeks ago there was another big event in the life of Serena Williams. She joins the ranks of Michael Phelps, Tiger Woods, Babe Ruth, Mary Lou Retton, Michael Jordan – all famous for having their pictures on the Wheaties box. She said, “I have dreamt of this since I was a young woman, and it is an honor to join the ranks of some of America’s most decorated athletes. I hope my image on this iconic orange box will inspire the next generation of girls and athletes to dream big.” (more…)

Jesus’ Gift of Peace

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 7, 2019 – Year C
Readings: Is 66:10-14C / Ps 66 / Gal 6:14-18 / Lk 10:1-12, 17-20
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

Many of us are old enough to know that whatever you give you will receive. In most cases the result is immediate. For example, if you give someone a kind word, you will immediately feel good.

However, there are times when the opposite is true. In today’s gospel, we have heard that the Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two of his followers to go and proclaim the good news of God’s salvation. Before He sent them out, part of His instructions was for them to give a blessing of peace. He told them, “Into whatever house you enter, first say ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him. If not, it will return to you.” (more…)

Come, Holy Spirit!

Pentecost Sunday
June 9, 2019 – Year C
Readings: Acts 2:1-11 / Ps 104 / 1 Cor 12:3B-7, 12-13 / Jn 20:19-23
by Rev. Mr. Eddie Craig, Permanent Deacon

Good morning and Happy Birthday! Because it is our birthday. Now you are probably thinking, “Deacon Eddie, it’s not my birthday!” But you would be wrong, because it is your birthday. Because, you see, at your baptism, something special happened. At your baptism, a change took place in your very being. Each and every one of us who has received that sacrament became a son or a daughter of God, we became a temple of the Holy Spirit, and collectively we became a part of the Body of Christ, or in other words, the Church. (more…)

Do What Jesus Tells You

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 20, 2019 – Year C
Readings: Is 62:1-5 / Ps 96 / 1 Cor 12:4-11 / Jn 2:1-11
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

About a month ago, Scott Marr of Nebraska was found by his son unconscious and barely alive. The following day his family was told by hospital doctors that his recovery from an apparent stroke was not expected. They subsequently gave permission for his breathing tubes to be removed, and they started planning for his funeral. After a few days in a coma and the day after the breathing tubes were removed, he started to respond. He is currently at home and on the road to a full recovery. He said that, although he is not an extremely religious person, he believes in God, and what happened to him is just a proof that everything he has been told about God is true. (more…)

Let Your Kindness Be Known To All

Third Sunday of Advent
December 16, 2018 – Year C
Readings: Zep 3:14-18A / Is 12 / Phil 4:4-7 / Lk 3:10-18
by Rev. Paul O’Donnell Duggan, Guest Celebrant

I made a trip to New York to go out to Long Island City, which I hadn’t been to in thirteen months, for the annual Mass for deceased members of the New York Pentecostal Association. I don’t have GPS; GPS is up here (pointing at his head), and at my age, memory is not what it used to be. Oh yes, I remember that on the George Washington Bridge, I need to take the FDR. Now I’ve got to get over to that lane, and I see it. Oh, good, good, good. I take the exit; it’s the next exit. I took the wrong one. Take the wrong exit off George Washington Bridge in New York: L-O-S-T. Completely. (more…)

Showing Our True Colors

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 23, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Wis 2:12, 17-20 / Ps 54 / Jas 3:16-4:3 / Mk 9:30-37
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

At 9:54 last night, we officially began the season of Fall. In just a few days we will begin seeing the beauty of God’s creation here and in the glorious mountain area. The different colors of leaves will remind us that our God is indeed almighty.

We know that leaves don’t change colors during autumn. Because of the change in temperature, the lack of sunshine, and other environmental factors, the leaves are no longer able to produce chlorophyll, which gives them their green color. Because of this seeming deficiency, the leaves will be showing their true colors, as the Lord God created them to be, and they are beautiful. (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…)

Living the Triduum

Holy Thursday
March 29, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Ex 12:1-8, 11-14 / Ps 116 / 1 Cor 11:23-26 / Jn 13:1-15
by Rev. Mr. Eddie Craig, Permanent Deacon

Welcome to the start of the Holy Triduum. The Holy Triduum is three nights: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and it ends with the Easter Vigil on Saturday night. If you pay attention, you’ll notice that it really is one whole long liturgy strung together. Tonight will not end like a Mass normally ends. Tomorrow night won’t start like it normally does and also, tomorrow night the ending will be a little bit different. Then, if you come to all three liturgies, you will notice that the Easter Vigil does not start normally either. This is a solemn time. (more…)